The 114th Precinct has seen some of the greatest gains in terms of reducing crime in Astoria in 2016. Out of 77 precincts citywide, the 114th Precinct is 10th in crime reduction, with a 17.4 percent decrease year-to-year.
“There’s some really great work being done out there,” said Deputy Inspector Peter Fortune, commanding officer of the 114th Precinct, during the March 28 114th Precinct Community Council meeting.
The precinct is also ranked first in crime reduction in Queens Borough Patrol North, which is made up of eight precincts. At the 114th Precinct Council Meeting on March 29, Fortune also announced that from Feb. 27 through March 26 officers “continued to drive down crime” with a 35 percent decrease.
“Out of 8 precincts were ranked number 1 in overall crime reduction and that’s something that I’m really, really proud of as I stand here tonight.”
Crime in all major categories is down including robberies, which are down 29 percent, felony assaults, which are down 22 percent, burglaries, which are down 39 percent and grand larcenies, which are down 42 percent Feb. 27 through March 26.
“All sub-types [of grand larceny] – unattended [property], identity theft, auto and person are all down,” he said. “That’s something that I stood up here on several occasions and [have] spoken about and I’m thinking and hoping that this communication and this crime prevention has gotten out there because we’re seeing far less victims of identity theft scams, of unattended property being removed from your car and such.”
Stolen vehicles and shootings are also down 50 percent. A shooting took place on March 18 in the Queensbridge Houses, which saw no shootings in 2016. A 28-year-old black male was shot in the groin area several times at 3:15 a.m. and the incident is under investigation, Fortune said.
He also asked for help in identifying two men who robbed an 83-year-old man in an elevator at the Ravenswood Houses and encouraged residents to call Crime Stoppers with any tips.
The repeated homophobic graffiti attacks on elected officials’ buildings has been turned into a pattern, Fortune said, and police have seen similar graffiti written on several restaurants around 31st Street and Newtown Avenue and on Broadway and 23rd Street. So far, police have counted 8 incidents of this graffiti in the area and Fortune said the suspect probably lives in the area.
“I really want to drive home the fact how well we’re doing right now and I don’t want these couple of incidents to really mar and get in the way of what our officers are up to,” he said.
