Ongoing Crime Drop in 70th Precinct But Dramatic Surge In Homicides

The 70th Precinct continues to experience an ongoing drop In overall crime but witnessed a troubling surge In homicides in 2015.

There was a 3.8 percent reduction in overall crime last year relative to 2014, but a leap in homicides, from 3 to 17, said Deputy Inspector Richard G. DiBlasio, Commanding Officer of the 70th Precinct at the first Community Council meeting of 2016.

DiBlasio singled out the Precinct’s “issue with homicides” — on which we’ve reported extensively — they jumped almost six-fold in 2015.

“We feel confident we will reduce that number,” he stated.

The 70th Precinct extends south from Parkside Avenue all the way down to Avenue P. It is mainly bordered by Coney Island Avenue to the west and Nostrand and Bedford Avenues to the east.

Other major felonies — rape, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny of a motor vehicle — have for the most part continued their steady decline over the last five years. The numbers are even more striking if you look at the 70th Precinct’s crime trends since 2000.

There was a slight uptick in robberies, from 325 to 350, in 2015. It’s worth noting, however, that in 2000, there were over 1,000 robberies in the 70th Precinct.

But the surge in homicides is nothing short of dramatic. The last time there were 17 homicides in the 70th Precinct was 2003.

When asked for more details about the homicides, DiBlasio stated that more than half of them were tied to shootings. Paradoxically, the 70th Precinct witnessed fewer shootings last year, he said. Overall arrests were also down, DiBlasio reported.

Two of last year’s homicides were the result of violent crimes that had transpired before 2015. But it was not until 2015 that the victims died, DiBlasio said. Another one of the homicides was a domestic violence arrest, he continued.

Mirroring the overall drop in crime, pedestrian injuries in the 70th Precinct also fell in 2015, the Police Department reported.

Captain James King, who oversees the Precinct’s Traffic Safety Program, said that the Police Department has accomplished this by getting drivers to reduce their speed, enforcing DWI and yield rules, and tackling double parkers on busy thoroughfares like Flatbush Avenue.

King reminded community members about the twin goals of the de Blasio administration’s Vision Zero initiative, which are to reduce traffic fatalities and save lives.

Community members were also introduced to a group of recruits from the Police Academy who will be working in the 70th Precinct and who have joined the Department’s Neighborhood Policing Program, which officially starts in April. The focus of the Neighborhood Policing Program is to regularly assign the same officers to one of four sectors within the Precinct, helping to build stronger relationships between the police and residents. “You will see the same officer every day,” DiBlasio observed.

The 70th Precinct is also encouraging residents to sign up for the next Citizens Police Academy.

The next Community Council meeting for the 70th Precinct will be on February 24th at 7:30pm. It will be held at Precinct Headquarters, 154 Lawrence Avenue, just off Ocean Parkway.