By Ivan Pereira
Violence has erupted in several neighborhoods in southeast Queens where three shooting incidents that killed three and wounded several others have been linked to out-of- control parties, the authorities said.
In response to this elevated threat, which has so far claimed the lives of three young people, the Police Department has established a special task force in the area that is focusing its efforts on cracking down on the parties by taking its policing to the streets and searching the Internet, City Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) said.
Sanders said he could not divulge too much information about the group, but said it is based out of the Queens Patrol Borough South precinct and has taken a new approach to its duties following the string of recent murders in the area.
“When we saw the slaughter of the youth, we knew we had to do something,” he said.
The task force has been hard at work on enforcing noise laws and deploying more officers during peak periods, such as weekends, holidays and nights, when people hold their parties, according to the councilman. The group is also monitoring chatter on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for any announcements of any large-scale get-togethers.
“We discovered some people are renting their backyards for parties,” Sanders said.
The councilman said he has been getting hundreds of calls from residents who ask him for ways to curb the violence that has been occurring at these parties.
On July 31, Robinson Lajeunesse was killed with a shotgun during a party in St. Albans which nearly 200 people attended, police said.
On May 22, Dane Freeman was shot and six others were wounded in a shooting that took place at a Springfield Gardens party that was supposed to be a reunion for middle school classmates but grew much bigger when the celebration was announced on social networking websites.
A week prior to that shooting, Kendrick Ali Morrow was murdered following a dispute at a separate party.
No arrests have been made as of press time Tuesday in any of the incidents.
In addition to the task force, Sanders said his office has been compiling a list of people who chronically have noise complaints issued against them. He has been giving those names to the police and is encouraging all residents in the borough to alert the NYPD if they are having frequent loud events in their neighborhood.
“We will get it to the proper police department and, God willing, we’ll have a better summer,” he said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
