Crime spike in SE Queens

DESPINA KOUVAROS AND PETE DAVIS
A Queens City Councilmember is urging residents in his district to be extra careful after a surge of robberies and theft in southeast Queens during the first two months of this year.
City Councilmember Leroy Comrie, who represents neighborhoods in southeast Queens, has convened two crime prevention forums – one on March 6 and another scheduled for March 16 – to ask residents to be more vigilant and proactive in helping protect their community.
“We must all become active participants in helping to make our neighborhoods safer,” Comrie said. “Unfortunately, as the economic recession has worsened and there has been a decline in employment opportunities, there has been a rise in push-in home robberies and street crimes on our streets.”
Comrie called the crime prevention forums after NYPD crime statistics revealed a 23.4 spike in robberies in Patrol Borough Queens South, which covers eight precincts in the southern part of the borough, during the first two months of 2010 compared to that same time last year. More locally, in the 103rd Precinct, 75 robberies have taken place during the first month of this year compared to 52 during that time last year – a 44 percent increase.
In addition, felony assault is up 6.7 percent, grand larceny 5.6 percent and grand larceny auto 19.7 percent in Patrol Borough Queens South through February of this year compared with the numbers in the same time frame last year.
“These statistics become even more alarming when you consider that citywide, robberies and burglaries have increased only slightly and grand larceny crimes have actually decreased,” Comrie said. “I believe the convening of these forums will provide Queens residents an opportunity to discuss this issue and raise awareness with their neighbors about the need to be more vigilant during this crisis.”
Not all of the news was bad for southern Queens residents. Through the end of February, there were 16 rapes that had been committed Patrol Borough Queens South in 2010 compared to 28 at this time last year – a 42.9 percent decrease, according to NYPD crime statistics. In addition, burglaries saw a 13 percent decline with 300 burglaries committed this year compared to 345 at this time last year.
However, Yvonne Reddick, district manager of Community Board 12, is still concerned about the spike in crime and believes that it correlates to the amount of guns in the area.
“There are too many guns out here in the area,” Reddick said. “My concern is where are these guns coming from and why are they here?”
Reddick is echoing Comrie’s call for the community to be more vigilant in hopes of deterring crime.
“You can’t go and barricade yourself inside your home,” Reddick said. “We all have to go out. We have to demand for more police in the area and we have to come together and be each other’s eyes and ears. If you see a crime being committed, do not be afraid to call 9-1-1.”