Overall crime has fallen across Bayside, Douglaston and Little Neck, but the northeast Queens area continues to see a sharp uptick in burglaries.
Robbery, grand larceny and car theft numbers are each down year to date within the 111th Precinct, according to Captain John Hall, the precinct’s commanding officer.
However, burglaries continue to drive crime at the precinct. A total 57 burglaries were recorded year to date, as compared to 46 in 2017.
“My major concern — and it will be my driving concern this year — is burglaries,” Hall said at the 111th Precinct Community Council meeting on April 3. “We just came out of a two-week period of no residential burglaries; but unfortunately, we had an attempted burglary last night. The burglar wasn’t successful, but we still count that as a burglary.”
One approach the commanding officer has taken to combat the trend is taking some of the precinct’s patrol cars off some of the main corridors — like Northern Boulevard and Utopia Parkway — and relocating them into the neighborhoods.
“They’re driving down the side streets. We’re sending them to places where the burglaries happen,” he said.
Hall is also keeping an eye on a list of known perpetrators in the area.
“Only a small percentage of the population is responsible for a large percentage of burglaries,” he said. “We do have a list of people who routinely burglarize this area.”
Officers are scanning local pawn shops for items reported missing in the home break-ins as a way to gather leads. Community Affairs and Auxiliary officers are also focusing in on crime prevention.
“Any time a place is burglarized, we’re gonna go to that place and just let everyone know in that neighborhood there’s been a burglary in the area,” he said.
Hall made note of a significant burglary arrest made last month. On March 12, officers cuffed a local man allegedly connected to multiple commercial burglaries within the command.
Police Officer John Erdman of the 111th Precinct Community Affairs Unit told attendees at the January Community Board 11 about the continued home break-in crime trend. He encouraged homeowners to secure their windows and doors and keep entryways well lit.
Erdman also encouraged residents to invest in security cameras and an alarm system, which allows for a faster response time by authorities.
