Crime continues to come down in Canarsie.
With two and a half months left to the year, the 69th Precinct has recorded a 15.65 decrease in the seven major crime categories, compared to this point in 2008.
The precinct is doing even better for the month than for the year. Over the 28-day period that ended October 11th, crime was down 32.17 percent in the precinct, a decline that amounts to 37 fewer crimes over the course of four weeks (78 as opposed to 115).
Captain Milt Marmara went over the statistics with members of the United Canarsie South Civic Association (UCSCA), gathered at the Hebrew Educational Society, 9502 Seaview Avenue, for their October meeting. He told the group that, so far this year, the precinct has registered a decline in each of the seven categories: Murder, rape, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto (GLA).
Murder has shown the largest drop, percentage-wise, with four so far in 2009, compared to six in 2008, for a 33.3 percent decline.
Also way down are felonious assaults. There have been 96 so far this year, compared to 130 at this point last year, for a decrease of 26.2 percent.
GLAs are also significantly down. There have been 128 so far this year, compared to 170 at this time in 2008, for a decline of 24.7 percent.
Burglaries have also decreased. There have been 122 year to date, compared with 156 at this time last year, for a decline of 21.8 percent.
Not far behind are rapes, which are down 21.4 percent, year to date, with 11 so far in 2009, compared to 14 at this time last year.
Finally, grand larcenies are down 10.7 percent, with 242 so far this year, compared to 271 at this time last year, and robberies are down slightly, 1.6 percent, with 189 year to date, compared with 192 at this time last year.
The precinct is also down in shootings, so far, for 2009, Marmara said, though, in the 28-day period that ended October 11th, there was one more shooting that in the same time period in 2008. There were four in the course of the four-week period in 2009, as compared to three in that period in 2008. Overall, “We’re still down 12 percent in shootings compared to last year, 22 as compared to 25,” he added.
In particular, Marmara said, a collar the precinct made recently appears to have put an end to a rash of break-ins in the East 90s, between Seaview Avenue and Avenue M. “We were having a rash of them, and we haven’t had one since,” he noted.
That individual, he noted, “Happened to be a truant. If you see a truant, who’s supposed to be in school, he’s probably up to no good. Every so often we see residential burglaries and truants tied in together.” This would be a reason, Marmara said, to put in a call to 911.
In general, Marmara urged his listeners not to leave easily accessible windows or doors open. “You’d be surprised how many people in Canarsie leave their back doors open or their side windows open on the first floor. A lot of times, there’s no reason for anyone to break in,” he told the group. “They just open the window more or walk in, and they are right in.”
The precinct is also down for the year in noise complaints, Marmara said. In 2008, there was a decrease of about 18 percent in noise complaints, he told the group, because of increased enforcement, and again this year there has been another decrease of about 18 percent in the number of noise complaints, Marmara said.
“It’s one of the biggest things I hear,” Marmara stressed. “We’ve been seizing a lot of equipment when these parties are going on, and we are trying to address with chronic locations. We deal with them a lot differently from that one-time event that’s happening.”
