107th precinct / population 151,107
Home to two colleges, a major park and the stately mansions of Jamaica Estates, the 107th Precinct has traditionally enjoyed low levels of crime. Neighborhood patrols, such as those in Jamaica Estates, where Donald Trump grew up, have helped keep the crime rate low.
In 2010, there were four murders in the precinct — which includes Fresh Meadows, Jamaica Estates, Kew Gardens Hills and Briarwood — representing a slight uptick from 2009, when there were three. Shooting incidents in these neighborhoods of garden apartments and one- and two-family homes have been cut in half over the 17 years leading up to 2010, and muggings were down 75 percent during that period.
Auto thefts fell by 95 percent from 1993 to 2010, but that trend may be reversing. The 107th Precinct, with its proximity to several major highways, including the Grand Central Parkway, Van Wyck and Long Island expressways, became a hotspot for car thieves in 2010.
Rates spiked more than 7 percent from 2009, with 232 thefts, up from 216. In response, the NYPD boosted its night patrols in the area.
While declining or remaining steady in most neighborhoods, misdemeanor sex crimes jumped 43 percent from 2009 to 2010 in the area, going from 28 to 40. In a shocking July 2009 case, a St. John's University student was dragged into an alley in Fresh Meadows and raped. And while the felony assault rate is among the lowest in the city, there was an uptick from 2009 to 2010 to a total of 96 in the area.
7%
Increase in car thefts from 2009 to 2010
95%
Overall decline in car thefts, 1993 to 2010
Photo: NY Daily News
Man Attacks Elderly Woman, Gets 75 Years
While on her way to church on March 4, 2007, 101-year-old Rose Morat (pictured) was brutally attacked in the lobby of her Jamaica Estates apartment building. The assailant had pretended to want to help her through the vestibule, then began punching Morat in the face before swiping her purse and the $33 in it, and pushing her to the ground. Morat sustained a broken cheekbone and bruises. The attack, caught on videotape, outraged the public. But Morat wasn't the only elderly victim attacked by suspect Jack Rhodes, 44, that day. About an hour later in Hillside, he robbed Solange Elizee, 87, after following her onto an elevator and accosting her at her apartment door, beating her in the face and swiping $32 and her wedding ring. Rhodes was finally arrested on April 27, 2007, after a city-wide manhunt. In addition to the two seniors, he was charged with an attack on Angela Kahn, 51, also from Jamaica Estates. Because of the age of the two elderly women, Rhodes was additionally charged with violating the Hate Crimes Act. He was convicted on Dec. 2, 2009, and sentenced to 75 years in prison.
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