Major Crime Rate Plummets In Queens Queens Still Leads City In Car Thefts

Despite a mid-year surge of murders, highlighted by the massacre in the Wendys Restaurant, Queens murder rate continued to drop while it rose in the rest of the city.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, "The Police Departments crime control strategies and our offices focus on career criminals and other violent predators continues to drive down the rate of robberies, burglaries and other violent street crime."
He also cited his offices proactive investigations of organized narcotics throughout Queens, as well as taking steps to cut auto crime by 72 percent during the past decade (50,239 vs. 14,082 thefts).
The precinct crime reports reflected their respective population and geographical sizes: the 109 Pct., in Flushing, with the boroughs largest population and largest site had the highest number of crimes, while Rockaway Parks 100 Pct., which is the smallest, had the least. While the details of the nearly decade-long crime decline far outweighed the bad news, the police report also revealed some negative aspects:
 Sparked by sharp increases of rape in the Rockaways 100 and 101 pcts., the number of these violent crimes jumped nearly five percent in Queens, while declining in the rest of the city.
 Nearly one-third of all the citys violent crimes occurred in Queens.
 Although local auto thefts dropped nearly 12 percent, one automobile was still stolen every 42 minutes in the borough, making Queens the car theft capital of New York City. Despite stiff competition from the 104 (Ridgewood) and 105 (Queens Village) pcts., the 109 Pct., in Flushing, retained its traditional leadership as the citys auto theft leader.
Only the 113 Pct., in Jamaica, failed to record a decrease in major crimes. This precinct includes Kennedy Airport, which showed a sharp increase of criminal activity, such as a 94 percent increase in auto thefts.
One key to the continued downward spiral of crime, said D.A. Brown, was the vigorous prosecution of about 7,000 street narcotic arrests. "It is clear," he declared, "that enhanced investigative efforts and heightened narcotics enforcement, as well as our persistence in convicting career criminals and repeat offenders, have had a major impact on crime in Queens County."