Hold the compliments.
The top cop of the 76th Precinct doesn’t want any credit for the continued drop in crime his precinct is experiencing.
He wants all the glory to go to his police officers.
“My cops are working very hard, and because of what they are doing, crime is continuing to go down,” said Deputy Inspector Michael Kemper, the commanding officer of the 76th Precinct.
“They are arresting the right people,” Kemper added.
The precinct, which covers Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill and Gowanus, enjoys a good relationship with local residents, Kemper said, and also benefits from the presence of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, a multi-jurisdictional courthouse on Visitation Place.
The numbers, so far, seem encouraging.
According to data compiled by the NYPD, as of June 8 the precinct has seen a 9.1 percent drop in crime in 2008 compared to last year.
In most of the seven major crime categories, crime is down, police statistics show. Robberies fell 17.7 percent, with 37 reported this year so far, compared to 45 in 2007. Assaults are also down, with 26 reported in 2008 compared to 28 in 2007, a decline of 7.1 percent.
Grand larceny fell by 12.9 percent, with 81 this year compared to 93 last year, police data show. Car thefts are down 3.7 percent with 26 reported so far this year as compared to 27 in 2007.
For the year, burglaries are up nine percent, with 36 reported, compared to 33 in 2007.
So far, no rapes have been reported in the precinct, compared to three last year.
Three murders have been reported so far in the precinct, compared to one last year for the same time period and three for all of 2007.
“Absolutely it concerns me, Kemper said of the murders.
“But when you look at the three homicides, all of them took place indoors, and two are closed with an arrest,” he said.
The third murder, which took place May 9 in the Gowanus housing development on Baltic Street, is actively being investigated, he added. In that case, 30-year-old Richard Russo was found shot dead in an elevator in the housing development, according to reports.
The 76th Precinct Community Council, an open forum for residents’ concerns, will meet again in September.
