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Cops credit crime drop to teamwork

Felony crime is down 10 percent in the 62nd Precinct and officials there are quick to credit the teamwork and diligence of the rank-and-file cops.

“We have a good team and like the old saying, there’s no ‘I’ in team,” said Captain James Grant, the precinct’s executive officer.

“We’re also utilizing the right resources in the right places.”

Among the big drops in crime categories is felony assault, which is down nearly 26 percent for the year, with 93 incidents reported as compared to 125 at this time in 2007.

Auto thefts are down nearly 20 percent with 114 reported incidents so far in 2008 as compared to 142 at this time last year.

Reported burglaries are down 14 percent and grand larceny is down nearly 11 percent.

There have been 228 reported burglaries so far in 2008 as compared to 266 at this time last year, and 341 grand larceny incidents thus far this year as compared to 382 at this time in 2007.

Of the major crime categories on the increase, robbery is up 21 percent with 164 reported incidents so far this year as compared to 135 at this time in 2007.

Grant attributed this increase to thefts of cell phones and iPods, which usually involves youthful offenders.

This type of crime is also up throughout most of the precincts in the borough.

There have been five murders thus far this year as compared to two at this time in 2007.

Grant said of these murders, only one remains open.

The incident is the most recent, and involved a stabbing on Aug. 23 near the train station outside 1832 86th Street.

The precinct has also had success in removing guns off the street, said Grant.

The precinct made a good gun collar recently, taking two guns off the street around Avenue U and McDonald Avenue, Grant said.

Police officer Oliver Muir, in fact, received a “Cop of the Month” award at the recent 62nd Precinct community council meeting for taking a gun off the street.

The incident happened in July, when Muir, a member of the anti-crime team, observed a known male perpetrator at 86th Street and 23rd Avenue. Muir, with the help of the rest of his team, made the arrest and recovered a firearm.

Also getting a “Cop of the Month” award at the meeting was Police Officer Ian Nadel, who answered the call of a commercial burglary in progress.

Upon responding to the scene on Bath Avenue, Nadel caught the burglar outside a pharmacy, and then, upon further investigation, nabbed his partner in the pharmacy.

Cops later learned the pair was wanted for another robbery earlier in the evening and both were charged with the crimes.