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Drop in Robberies and Burglaries Fuel Jamaica Crime Decline

 Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann at his first 103rd Precinct Community Council meeting in Jamaica Tuesday night.
Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann at his first 103rd Precinct Community Council meeting in Jamaica Tuesday night.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — The 103rd Precinct in Jamaica has seen a significant drop in crime during the first four months of the year — fueled by a sharp dip in robberies and burglaries, NYPD data showed.

Overall crime in the area has decreased nearly 15 percent this year compared to the same time period in 2013, according to CompStat figures through May 4.

The decline has been seen in most of major crime categories and was spurred by police targeting repeat offenders, officials said.

Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the precinct, said that the area saw a dramatic decrease in robberies and burglaries during that time period.

In 2014, there were 101 robberies in the 103rd Precinct, which covers Jamaica and Hollis, compared to 163 in 2013, a decline of 38 percent, according to statistics provided by the NYPD.

Burglaries went down by 31 percent — with 73 break-ins this year, compared to 106 last year.

The number of rapes also fell by 33 percent, from 12 last year to 8 this year, and felony assaults declined by nearly 5 percent.

With a gruesome triple homicide in January this year — in which Miguel Mejia-Ramos was charged with killing his wife, Deisy Garcia, and their two young daughters — the precinct saw an increase in murders from one in the first four months of last year to five in the same period of this year, an increase of 400 percent.

Cappelmann said that much of the success in reducing crime can be attributed to placing officers in the right locations and targeting repeat offenders.

“You see time and time again that the same people cause violent incidents over and over again,” he said during a community council meeting earlier this week.

Cappelmann cited the example of John Brew, 35, who was arrested on May 1 for stealing 12 Ford Econoline vans during a 2-month period, by towing them and later selling them at scrap yards.

“We haven’t had one Econoline van stolen” since he was arrested, Cappelmann said.