Major crimes from murders to burglaries are down drastically across the 109th Precinct this year, the precinct’s commanding officer reported during Wednesday’s 109th Precinct Community Council meeting in Flushing.
According to Deputy Inspector Thomas Conforti, there have been 258 fewer victims of serious crime this year than at the same point in 2014.
Burglaries had the steepest decline over the last year at 40 percent, with 198 incidents this year compared to 330 in 2014. Conforti said this is due to the recent arrests of known burglars over the course of the last eight months.
Stolen vehicles are also significantly down in the 109th Precinct, with approximately 30 percent less than this time last year. A total of 32 fewer vehicles were stolen altogether.
The decrease in car thefts is most clearly seen in the numbers of the most popularly stolen car in the 109th Precinct, the Ford Econoline van. That model of car alone has seen a decrease in theft from over 40 stolen last year down to 22 so far in 2015.
Although overall crime is down, the deputy inspector said that lot of crime that does happen can be prevented by locking the doors of parked vehicles.
Conforti estimated that over 85 percent of larceny from autos would be prevented if residents locked the doors of their unattended cars, including a recent theft in which an envelope with $10,000 in cash was stolen from an unlocked car.
“New York City is a safe place, Queens is a safe place compared to years past,” Conforti said, “but we still live in a major city and we’re targets because it’s a nice area.”
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