By Alex Ginsberg
Despite an overall drop in crime, statistics showed that homicides doubled in the 114th Precinct in Astoria and rape shot up 366.6 percent to the south in Long Island City’s 108th Precinct during the first six months of 2003, compared with the same period last year.
The 114th Precinct, headquartered at 34-16 Astoria Blvd., saw a 28.9 percent drop in burglary and an 18.8 percent downturn in auto theft, in addition to small decreases in felony assault and grand larceny. But murders increased from two to four, rape rose by 18.7 percent and robbery nudged up by 1.2 percent.
Overall crime was down 12.69 percent so far this year, according to the crime numbers.
Jim and Barbara Pollock, who run the 114th Civilian Observation Patrol, said the progress made in Astoria against auto theft was due to VIN etching, where vehicle identification numbers are inscribed in the window glass.
In another initiative, Community Combat Auto Theft, owners print the hours their cars are never used on window decals, which then give police permission to pull over the vehicles if they are on the road during the hours noted.
“The Police Department has really been putting out a lot of free services and programs to participate in,” Barbara Pollock said.
She also credited information campaigns highlighting window bars with the decrease in burglaries.
In the 108th Precinct, headquartered at 5-47 50th Ave., six of the seven crimes that police track decreased — in the most dramatic cases, a 36.6 percent drop in robbery and a 25 percent drop in murder.
There have been three murders this year, compared with four at the same time last year, according to the crime statistics.
In addition, burglary and larceny both went down by about 10.5 percent, and felony assault and auto theft by about 7.5 percent. Overall, crime was down 12.93 percent.
But those gains were offset by a massive spike in rape, from three recorded during the first half of last year to 14 this year.
The increase in rape was not of immediate concern to Diane Ballek, president of the 108th Precinct Community Council.
“I knew rape was up, but we have no serial rapists in the area,” she said. Ballek was certain that if an attacker were preying randomly on area women, there would have been more of an outcry from the community. Instead, she said those crimes probably represented attacks in which the victim knew her assailant.
She said she relied more on input from neighbors and residents than on statistics.
“We really don’t go by those numbers,” she said. “We go by how everyone feels. Those are just numbers and I don’t like numbers anyway.”
Statistics from the 114th and 108th precincts more or less reflect those of Patrol Borough Queens North, which saw a 14.2 percent rise in murder and a 46.4 percent increase in rape, while enjoying a 16.5 percent drop in burglary and a 19.6 percent decrease in auto theft. Robbery, felony assault and grand larceny stayed essentially the same.
The 114th Precinct covers Astoria and parts of Long Island City north of Queens Plaza, while the 108th Precinct includes the rest of Long Island City, as well as Woodside and Sunnyside.
Reach reporter Alex Ginsberg by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
