Murders…
By Adam Kramer
Following a citywide trend, Queens’ murder rate fell by 44.4 percent in the first three months of the year with 16 fewer killings recorded in the borough than in the same 2000 period, statistics compiled by the Police Department showed.
Murders boroughwide dropped to 20 in the opening three months from 36 during the period from Jan. 1 to April 1, 2000. In Patrol Borough Queens North murders plummeted 55.5 percent and declined 33.3 percent in Patrol Borough Queens South.
“Over a three-month period the drop in the murder rate is good but not a trend,” cautioned Councilman Sheldon Leffler (D-Hollis), who chairs the Public Safety Committee. “Coming at end of the decline throughout the 1990s, it shows the city is still making significant progress in the reduction of violent crimes.”
Killings decreased to eight this year from 18 in the first quarter last year in Patrol Borough North, which covers the 104th Precinct in Ridgewood, the 108th Precinct in Long Island City, the 109th Precinct in Flushing, the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst, the 111th Precinct in Bayside, the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills, the 114th precinct in Astoria and the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights.
Murders dropped to 12 in 2001 from 18 in 2000 in Patrol Borough South, which oversees the 100th Precinct in Rockaway, the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway, the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill, the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, the 105th Precinct in Queens Village, the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park, the 107th Precinct in Flushing and the 113th Precinct in Jamaica.
The city’s murder rate went down 21 percent with 152 murders from Jan. 1 to April 1, 2001 as compared to 193 for the same period in 2000.
Of the borough’s 15 precincts, three had no murders in the first three months of the year, six had only one murder, four precincts had two killings and two precincts had three.
During the first three months of the year murders rose in the 104th Precinct to three from two, doubled in the 108th Precinct to two and plunged 75 percent in the 109th Precinct to one from four. In the 110th Precinct murders dropped to one from two, in the 111th Precinct killings fell to zero from two, the 112th Precinct’s rate stayed constant at zero and in the 114th murders declined to one from three.
In Queens South during the first three months of the year there were no murders in the 100th Precinct vs. one a year earlier, but in the 101st Precinct killings jumped to two from one. In the 102nd Precinct homicides remained constant at one, dropped to three from five in the 103rd Precinct and remained constant at two in the 105th Precinct.
The murder rate dropped 50 percent in the 106th Precinct to one murder from two, while in the 107th Precinct killings rose to two from one. The 113th Precinct had the largest decline in murders, falling to one in the first three months of 2001 from five in the same period last year.
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
