By Michael Morton
Speaking at a monthly community meeting held at the Queens Village precinct, Deputy Inspector Thomas Manzolillo indicated there was no reason to believe that the statistics had been fudged.
“That's an active, ongoing investigation,” said Manzolillo, who was named commander of the precinct in February after running the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park. “It's just part of the job. That's a black eye. It's infuriating, but it's an investigation.”
The 105th stretches from Glen Oaks in the north down along the Nassau border to Brookville in the south.
The probe into crime numbers in the 105th Precinct was first reported by Newsday. Precinct statistics go into a computer system known as CompStat, installed to track New York City crime based on seven major categories: murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand theft auto. Commanders are expected to show drops in crime in their precincts, and they are held accountable during CompStat meetings with superiors.
Newsday reported that officers from the NYPD's Quality Assurance Division were investigating the 105th after receiving reports that the precinct downgraded criminal complaints so they would not fall into one of the seven categories. Officials from the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, a police union, had previously accused the department of cooking its books on crime.
Halfway through 2004, the 105th Precinct reported a 12.28 percent reduction in crime, from 1,083 incidents to 950 cases, through June 20 compared with the same period the year before. That drop was the fifth highest in Queens. Flushing's 109th Precinct logged the largest decrease.
“It's really because of the front-line supervisors - the sergeants and captains – and the officers,” said Manzolillo, speaking of the overall decrease in crime in Queens. The commander was due to go to a borough CompStat meeting last Thursday.
The 105th has recorded double-digit decreases in robbery, grand larceny auto and burglary, but murder has surged to nine homicides so far this year from six in the same period of 2004.
Robbery incidents fell 18.4 percent from 152 in the first six months last year to 124 in the first half of 2004; grand larceny auto dropped 23.6 percent from 342 to 261; and burglary decreased 16.3 percent, from 232 to 194. Bolstering the last category, officers from the 105th earlier in the year helped to arrest members of the Codwise Gang, a group of people charged with carrying out a burglary spree in northern Queens.
Grand larceny, however, was up 6.1 percent from 212 to 225 in the latest period.
While most property crimes were down in the precinct, violence had increased in the first six months of the year. Rape was up 27.2 percent, from 11 to 14, and murders spiked 50 percent from six to nine.
The first murder in Queens for 2004 occurred in the 105th, with Bellerose diner owner George Rigos found stabbed to death in his home New Year's Day. The crime was still under investigation.
In the latest murder, a Laurelton limo driver was shot during a botched robbery at an area gas station. No suspect had been caught.
“It's still an active investigation,” Manzolillo said. “They have many leads, the squad. It was a senseless robbery, a senseless murder.”
But while rapes and murders were up, felony assaults were down 3.9 percent, from 128 last year to 123 in the first half of 2004.
During the precinct meeting, Manzolillo awarded Officer Anthony Alesia the May Cop of the Month honor. On May 4 Alesia, Sgt. Howard Goodwin and Officer Robert Rizzotto, all of the grand theft auto squad, arrested a Queens Village man who worked for the city Department of Environmental Protection. He was charged with robbing people in Woodside while posing as a cop.
The officers pulled the man over in Queens Village after he appeared to be canvassing the area in his car.
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
