UPPER WEST SIDE — Crime is down in the 24th Precinct so far this year, with the drop on track to be even greater than last year's, the precinct's commanding officer said.
As of Oct. 18, overall crime was down 4.6 percent from the same time last year in the precinct, which runs from West 86th Street to West 110th Street between Central Park and Riverside Park, according to Capt. Marlon Larin.
The precinct has counted 793 incidents so far this year, compared to 831 during the same time period in 2014.
The 4.6 percent decrease also represents a greater reduction than the 3 percent drop in citywide crime seen so far this year, Larin noted.
Last year, the 24th Precinct tallied 1,021 total crimes compared to 1,023 in 2013 — meaning the 2015 numbers are on track to see even further decreases, he said.
But the year isn't over yet.
Halloween and the holidays are times when grand larcenies — or property thefts without use of force, like someone snatching a bag without the victim noticing — tend to go up, police said.
Helping this year's decrease was a 27.8 percent crime reduction during the most recent 28-day period, Larin told locals at a meeting Wednesday.
At the same time, robberies have actually gone up in the precinct this year, he noted.
There have been 114 incidents this year compared to 102 during the same period last year, he said.
Larin acknowledged that the definition of a robbery is very expansive, including bank robberies in which only a note is passed, as well as certain shoplifting incidents in which thieves push employees.
"The robberies are not just somebdoy on the street running up on you and mugging you; a shoplifter who uses force against a security guard is technically robbery," he explained.
Larin said street muggings are not the most common type of robbery in the precinct, despite a pair of gunpoint robberies last week.
