WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — With crime on a continued rise in the 34th Precinct, community leaders plan to meet with residents to discuss safety and introduce the precinct's new commanding officer.
Just last week, Inwood residents met with Deputy Inspector Barry Buzzetti, who replaced commanding officer Jose Navarro after he was demoted due to rising crime north of West 179th Street in Washington Heights and Inwood.
The more than 200 residents who attended the Aug. 24 meeting live in the Park Terrace section of Inwood, where a woman was allegedly raped by an off-duty cop days before the meeting.
During that meeting, Inwood residents called for their own precinct to be set up, citing rising crime in the area and limited resources to be dispatched in Inwood, which at its northernmost tip is 30 blocks from the station house.
Thursday’s meeting will give residents from the southern portion of the 34th Precinct a chance to voice concerns as well.
Crime in the 34th Precinct as a whole has skyrocketed 23.02 percent in every major crime category, according to CompStat.
To date, robberies are up 5.9 percent with 179 incidents reported versus 169 in 2010; burglaries are up 73.3 percent with 155 incidents versus 101 in 2010; grand larceny is up 15.5 percent with 254 incidents versus 220 in 2010; and auto theft is up 31.5 percent with 71 incidents reported this year versus 54 in 2010.
Murder is also up 250 percent with seven incidents versus two in 2010; rape is up 25 percent with 15 incidents compared to 12 in 2010; and felony assault is up 12.4 percent with 154 incidents versus 137.
The meeting is sponsored by City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Assemblyman Guillermo Linares.
This is the second public safety meeting called by Rodriguez in the past two weeks. On Aug. 15, he held a meeting to discuss NYPD and Parks Department crime-fighting tactics in Northern Manhattan parks.
Congressman Charles Rangel, Assemblyman Denny Farrell Jr., Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Councilman Robert Jackson, members of Community Board 12, the Parks Department and the 34th Precinct Community Council are also expected to attend.
The Thursday, September 1, public safety meeting will be held at the Isabella Geriatric Center (Auditorium), 515 Audubon Avenue, on the corner of W. 190th St. and Audubon Ave., from, 7 to 9 p.m.
