Crime
Highest and lowest
crime rates
in Queens during 2018
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JANUARY 2019 43
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Despite the rate of crime decreasing
citywide, crime increased in the borough
of Queens in 2018.
New York City achieved hit record
lows in several major crime categories in
2018, according to a press release from
the NYPD. The number of murders in the
city was below 300. Citywide robberies and
burglaries, less than 13,000 and 12,000
respectively, were down from their 2017
totals. There were also fewer than 800
shootings, also down from 2017.
“Look, I want to put this in perspective;
we had in 2017 a record setting year,” said
Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference
about citywide crime on Jan. 3. “We had
crime down in ways that no one believed
possible previously. And in 2018 the NYPD
beat the record again. ”
But according to NYPD data, rapes,
murders, felony assaults and incidents of
grand larceny have increased in Queens.
In 2017, there were 50 murders, 307
rapes, 2,823 robberies, 3,820 felony as-saults,
2,914 burglaries, 7,842 incidents
of grand larceny and 1,568 incidents of
grand larceny auto in the borough.
According to NYPD end-of-year crime
statistics, there were 63 murders, 389
rapes, 2,523 robberies, 3,848 felony as-saults,
2,496 burglaries, 8,070 incidents
of grand larceny and 1,555 incidents of
grand larceny auto in 2018.
The 114th Precinct, which encom-passes
Astoria, Long Island City, Wood-side
and Jackson Heights, reported 10
murders in 2018. In 2017 there were
three. This makes the 114 the area
with the highest number of homicides
in the borough.
Meanwhile, the 110th Precinct, which
covers the neighborhoods of Corona and
Elmhurst, reported 43 rapes in 2018, a
major jump from the 25 reported 2017.
The neighborhoods within the confines
of the 110, Corona and Elmhurst, had
the highest number of rapes in 2018. It
was also the area with the highest num-ber
of robberies, 263, but that number
is a 16 percent decrease from 2017.
The highest number of felony assaults
that occurred in Queens last year occurred
the neighborhoods of the 103rd Precinct
— Jamaica, Hollis, Lakewood and Hollis
Park Gardens. The NYPD reports that there
a total of 406 incidents of assault in the
areas, a 5.18 percent increase from 2017.
The neighborhoods of Downtown
Flushing, East Flushing, Queensboro
Hill, College Point, Malba, Whitestone,
Beechhurst and Bay Terrace — all within
the confines of the 109th Precinct —
had the highest amount of burglaries
throughout Queens in 2018. Data
shows that the neighborhoods saw a
17.39 percent increase in the number
of burglaries. The NYPD reported a
total of 324 burglaries in 2018 and
276 in 2017.
Not only did the 109th Precinct have
the most burglaries in Queens last year,
the command also saw the borough’s
highest number grand larceny crimes.
NYPD data shows that 970 incidents
of grand larceny took place within the
neighborhoods covered by the precinct
— an 8.92 percent increase from 2017.
Finally, the most stolen vehicles
in 2018 (classified as grand larceny
auto cases) occurred in the 105th
Precinct. The southeast Queens com-mand
covers Queens Village, Cambria
Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Spring-field
Gardens, Bellerose, Glen Oaks,
New Hyde Park and Floral Park. There
were 165 incidents of grand larceny
auto in 2018 within the 105th Precinct,
a small percentage increase from the
year prior, 2.48.
On the other hand, the 111th Precinct
— which includes all or parts of Bayside,
Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale,
Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows — re-ported
zero murders for 2018, making
it the precinct with the fewest number
of murders in Queens.
The 111th also had the lowest number
of robberies in 2018, with NYPD data
showing that 39 took place last year and
35 in 2017.
The 100th Precinct — which serves
the southern portion of Queens on the
Rockaway Peninsula, Arverne, Belle Harbor,
Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Neponsit,
Rockaway Park, Rockaway Beach and
Roxbury — had the fewest number of
rapes, burglaries, incidents of grand lar-ceny
and auto thefts in 2018. According
to NYPD data, five rapes, 59 burglaries,
161 incidents of grand larceny and 18 car
thefts occurred within the neighborhoods
under the guard of the 100th precinct last
year. In 2017, there were nine rapes, 73
burglaries, 157 incidents of grand larceny
and 21 car thefts.
The 112th Precinct — which serves
Forest Hills and Rego Park — reported the
fewest number of assaults for a Queens
precinct in 2018. NYPD data shows that
53 incidents of assault occurred within
the 112th, two less than reported in 2017.
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