Borough crime rates trending in right direction: DA
BY BILL PARRY
While he did not announce
whether he had decided to run
for re-election in 2019, Queens
District Attorney Richard
Brown delivered his year-end
message Monday in which he
noted the borough was once
again among the city’s leaders
in crime reduction in 2018.
Based on preliminary
statistics by the NYPD,
Queens saw an overall 2.7
percent decline in serious
crime from the previous year
with the downward trend led
by an 11.4 percent drop in
robberies and a 17.2 percent
drop in burglaries.
“This was another
extremely successful year
for the Queens District
Attorney’s Office,” Brown
said. “In 2017, we had a record
low number of homicides
in Queens County and 2018
continued that trend with
remarkably fewer homicides
than in the past. This last
year there were 63 murders.
This is a dramatic change
from just over 25 years ago
when I became the district
attorney. In 1992, there were
341 murders. This astounding
decrease in deaths makes a
real difference in the lives of
the people of Queens.”
Brown said the 2018 mark
was the fifth-lowest total
in homicides since 1965 —
when Lyndon B. Johnson was
president, gas was 31 cents a
gallon and The Beatles played
at Shea Stadium.
“I believe without a
shadow of a doubt, that we
are the best prosecutor’s
office in this great nation,”
Brown said. “This year we
handled 50,000 arrests. Each
and every one of those cases
were handled judiciously,
efficiently and fairly. We have
consistently maintained the
best arrest to arraignment
time in the city. Faster than
any other borough, we get our
police officers back where
they can do the most good —
on the streets fighting crime
and protecting our citizens.”
Brown said his office is not
just focused on prosecuting
criminals, but also working
on innovative ways to combat
criminal activity and to help
In 2018, Queens saw an overall 2.7
percent decrease in crime from the
previous year.
those truly in need when
they come in contact with the
judicial system.
“To combat the evergrowing
opioid epidemic
in Queens County, we are
taking the necessary steps to
intervene and help abusers of
this highly-addictive drug,”
Brown said. “The Queens
Treatment Intervention
Program, better known
as QTIP, is our newest
initiative to strike down the
skyrocketing numbers of
overdose deaths and near
deaths. For misdemeanor
non-violent defendants, QTIP
provides clinical assessments,
treatment options and the
possibility of getting not
only a clean slate with an
adjournment in contemplation
of dismissal, but also a clean
start for a drug-free future.”
Brown also warned of the
growing dangers of Fentanyl,
the synthetic drug that, when
mixed with heroin, becomes
50 times more potent. In
2018, there were 229 cases of
suspected fatal drug overdoses
and nearly a third of those
cases involving Fentanyl.
To date, not a single
person participating in QTIP
has received any jail time.
Brown told the story of a
young pregnant lady who was
so addicted, shooting 20 bags
of heroin everyday.
The DA’s office got her into a
detox and afterwards to a statesponsored
addiction treatment
facility where she completed a
six-week program.
He said the young lady gave
birth in July and his since been
reunited with her baby and is
doing well in her outpatient
treatment here in Queens.
“Through our law
enforcement initiatives and
the implementation of an
array of ground-breaking
interventions and prevention
programs, we have made
incredible progress in
accomplishing that goal,”
Brown said. The DA was
appointed by then-Governor
Mario Cuomo in 1991.
“Over the last 25 years
overall, crime in Queens is
down 82.5 percent,” Brown
said. “Murders — a benchmark
for both prosecutors and police
— have fallen 77.6 percent
and burglaries are down 89.2
percent, robberies are down
85.2 percent, grand larcenies
are down 51.1 percent, rapes
are down 30.8 percent, felony
assaults are down 42.3 percent,
and auto thefts are down an
astounding 96.3 percent.”
Brown said his office would
continue to fight child sex
trafficking, domestic violence,
animal abuse, hate crimes,
illegal cigarette trafficking
and organized trademark
counterfeiting rings, bogus credit
card manufacturing crews.
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