By Alex Christodoulides
Crime in the borough is down in most categories, with auto theft leading the pack. Queens' 4,000 car thefts represent a 19.6 percent decline since 2006, and a 92 percent drop since Brown took office in 1992. And there were 72 homicides in 2007, the lowest number since 1965 and a 14 percent decrease from 2006 – a huge improvement over the 361 in 1991 when Brown was first appointed, he said.And while serious crime declined steadily across the borough, the total number of arrests rose 6.4 percent from 2006 to 2007.”There were a record-setting number of arrests last year in Queens – more than 75,000,” the DA said. “Yet we continue to maintain the quality of our prosecutions. We have the lowest felony complaint dismissal rate and the lowest indictment dismissal rate in the city. We also have the highest felony conviction rate in the city: 96 percent of the felony arrests that we prosecute as felonies result in conviction.”Brown also used the opportunity to talk up three new initiatives.The DA's office used funding from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice to set up a pilot program to videotape interrogations of defendants awaiting arraignment, and copies of the tapes are then given to defense attorneys at arraignment, Brown said. The DA's office has been able in many instances to obtain statements from defendants who were not questioned by police, which have sometimes helped to resolve a case or to better assess cases and make appropriate plea offers, he said. And in at least two cases the tapes helped to exonerate people who had mistakenly been arrested, he said.The DA's Special Victims Bureau organized the first citywide training conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome, which provided hundreds of attorneys, investigators, doctors, social workers and others with the latest information about research and trial practice in this field, Brown said.And this spring he anticipates the opening of the Family Justice Center, which will offer a variety of services and support to domestic violence and their families. The Domestic Violence Bureau and the Crime Victims Advocate's office, along with counseling and support services, will move into the renovated building on the 82nd Avenue side of the courthouse when it opens, Brown said.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
