QUEENS — The 112th Precinct, which covers Forest Hills and Rego Park, saw a drop in crime by more than 7 percent, outpacing the rest of the city, police officials said.
Crime in the area decreased in all major categories, except burglary, through Sept. 29 this year compared to the same period last year, said the precinct's commander, Capt. Thomas Conforti, at a Community Board 6 meeting on Wednesday night. Serious crimes across the five boroughs are down by 1 percent in comparison.
Conforti said that in contrast with the same period last year, robberies are down 22 percent, felony assaults decreased by 38 percent, grand larcenies fell by 5.6 percent and stolen cars are down 21 percent.
According to statistics provided by the NYPD for the period ending Sept. 29, there has not been a murder in the precinct this year. The were no murders in the precint last year either. There were 4 rapes this year, compared to 5 in 2012, and 57 robberies, compared to 71 last year.
Felony assaults decreased from 69 last year to 43 this year and fewer cars were stolen — 60 vehicles in 2012 and 47 in 2013.
The only crime category that is up is burglary, said Conforti. The number of break-ins in the area rose by almost 28 percent, from 97 last year to 124 this year.
But Conforti said that burglaries in a residential area of Forest Hills around Metropolitan Avenue stopped after police arrested a career burglar about 3 weeks ago.
“I’m confident that we’ve turned the corner on this problem,” Conforti said.
