Increases in the areas of burglary, robbery and grand theft auto have resulted in a small overall rise in crime in Canarsie in 2008.
According to the statistics kept by the New York Police Department, CompStat, crime is up overall 1.83 percent in the 69th Precinct for the year through November 2nd. That number includes the increases mentioned above, as well as a smaller increase in felonious assaults.
Of the seven major crime categories, there have been reductions in only three – murder, rape and grand larceny – in the 69th Precinct, year to date, compared with 2007, a year in which the 69th Precinct had the second largest reduction in crime of all precincts, citywide.
Murder is down 33.3 percent year to date, with six so far in 2008, compared to nine at this time last year. Rape is down 6.6 percent, with 14 so far this year, compared with 15 at this time last year. Grand larcenies are down 12 percent, year to date, with 291 so far in 2008, compared with 331 at this point in 2007.
Of the categories where there have been up-ticks, robbery is up 12.7 percent (203 so far in 2008, compared with 180 at this point last year); felonious assault is up 2.2 percent (136 so far this year, compared with 133 at this point last year); burglary is up 12.6 percent (with 169 so far in 2008, compared with 150 at this time last year); and GLA is up 10.3 percent (with 182 so far this year, compared with 165 at this point last year).
Nonetheless, Captain Milt Marmara, the precinct’s commander, said that, in the past 28 days, some of the numbers have turned, leading to significant decreases in robberies and GLAs when the month is compared with the same time period in 2007.
Speaking to members of the Friends United Block Association (FUBA), gathered at Temple Shaare Emeth, 6012 Farragut Road, for the group’s November meeting, Marmara noted that the precinct, in the past four weeks, “Had been able to make a lot of arrests.”
He also told his listeners, the precinct had been “able to get a lot of resources coming in from Patrol Borough Brooklyn South, and we are heading in the right direction.”
In addition, Marmara said, there hasn’t been a shooting in the precinct “in a couple of weeks. Since the beginning of the year, we had an increase in shootings throughout Canarsie. Part of that is young gangs. A lot of young kids are impressionable and their parents aren’t around because they are both working, so we keep an eye on that as well.
“On a positive note, things have been steady,” he added. “Things have been quiet for now.”
There have been 26 shootings so far in 2008, about 80 percent more than in 2007, Marmara said in a subsequent interview. But, he stressed at the time, in 2006, there were 28 or 29 shootings in the precinct. “Last year was an extremely good year,” he noted.
Also, Marmara said that the precinct had had a “large increase in gun collars and arrests, an increase in robbery arrests and an increase in GLA arrests. Whatever comes up, we try to address as best we can. Lately, things have been static. For the last 28 day period, there have been reductions in GLA and reductions in robberies.”
Area residents can help the cops keep crime down in the neighborhood, Marmara added during his talk to FUBA members, by taking commonsense precautions, such as closing windows and doors, and not leaving valuable items, such as laptops, in full view in parked autos. “A lot of burglaries we see are burglaries of opportunity,” Marmara stressed.
In addition, he told the group, “Make sure you know your neighbors and if you see any suspicious people, give us a call.”
