Commander: Grand Larcenies Still A Problem
Things are looking up at the 104th Precinct with crime down across the area, the force’s commanding officer reported during the 104th Precinct Community Council meeting last Tuesday night, Sept. 16, at Middle Village’s Christ the King Regional High School.
Capt. Christopher Manson stated the command covering Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village is in the midst of a “major crime decrease.” Yearto date, felonies are down 5.5 percent, and crime declined 30 percent in the 28-day period preceding last Tuesday’s meeting.
The week before the session proved even more successful, Manson stated, as felonies dropped 40 percent, with just 23 crimes reported.
“There’s a major reduction in robberies, burglaries and felony assaults,” he said. Manson conceded, however, officers are continuing to battle increases in grand larcenies and auto thefts.
Most of the grand larcenies, the captain stated, involve phone scams in which perpetrators- claiming to be from the IRS, a utility company or a law enforcement agency-urge a caller to provide immediate payment under threat of lost services or arrest. The callers, he noted, ask the victim to purchase a Green Dot prepaid card for hundreds of dollars, then call back and provide them with the serial number in order to obtain the cash.
“Most people don’t fall for it, but some do,” Manson said. “There’s a thousand of these scams out there. You can’t believe how bad some of them are.”
Anyone who gets contacted by a suspected scammer should hang up and call 911.
Manson, however, warned residents about a recent deception burglary in Glendale, in which two crooks posing as utility workers tricked a 78-year-old man into letting them into his home. Once inside, as previously reported, they reportedly stole $70,000 in cash hidden in the victim’s residence.
Det. Thomas Bell of the 104th Precinct Community Affairs Unit urged residents not to let in any individual whom they did not previously call for service. He also urged younger residents to check on their elderly neighbors and make sure no one attempts to take advantage of them.
Turning to street safety, the commander reported vehicular accidents, including those resulting in injuries to drivers and/or pedestrians, is also down around the precinct’s confines. Manson credited an increased crackdown on moving violations, as part of the city’s Vision Zero campaign, for the turnaround.
“We’re targeting those moving type summonses, and it appears to have a correlation” to the drop in accidents with injuries, he said.
Domestic violence
Regarding domestic violence cases, Manson told residents there has been a 15 percent drop in felony domestic violence cases such as robberies, assaults, grand larcenies and burglaries. The precinct has a unit staffed with five officers and a sergeant devoted to tracking, investigating and following up on domestic violence cases.
Linda Maloney of the New York City Family Justice Center, located behind the Queens County Criminal Courthouse at 126-02 82nd Ave. in Kew Gardens, advised attendees of services offered to domestic violence victims. They include consultations with law enforcement agencies, counseling, free legal advice and representation and connections to self-sufficiency programs.
Maloney stated the center serves as “a safe place” for domestic violence victims to go and get assistance in rebuilding their lives.
Council joins coalition
The precinct council voted to join the Glendale-Middle Village Coalition, an alliance of civic and business groups working to thwart a proposed homeless shelter on the neighborhood’s Cooper Avenue border.
As previously reported, the nonprofit group Samaritan Village received approval from the Department of Homeless Services to open a shelter for up to 125 families with children at 78-16 Cooper Ave., a long-defunct factory.
Recording Secretary Len Santoro-a ranking member of the Juniper Park Civic Association, which is part of the coalition- explained the effort seeks to stop a proposal that could harm not only the surrounding communities, but also the people it is designed to serve.
“We don’t believe it’s a good choice from a location perspective,” Santoro said of the shelter site. “We have a lot of concerns about Samaritan Village and the way they’ve managed their other buildings.”
Santoro and Dorie Figliola, a representative of Assemblyman Mike Miller, noted various elected officials in the community also spoke out against the proposal.
After the council voted unanimously to join the coalition, Precinct Council President Mario Matos remarked the organization “will support the [coalition’s] efforts and we look forward to working with civic groups and others involved in the effort.”
The next 104th Precinct Community Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday night, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Christ the King Regional High School, located at 68-02 Metropolitan Ave. in Middle Village. For more information, call the 104th Precinct Community Affairs Unit at 1-718-386-2431.
