Burglaries Up, But Crime Down Overall

In one of the last crime statistic releases before the end of the year, police from the revealed their most recent crime numbers earlier this week.

Burglaries at area homes and stores saw a big jump over the same week last year, and the same is true of the previous 28 days.

The 6 reported burglaries in the area that took place between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19 represent a 500 percent jump over the one that took place in the same period in 2009. The 28-day comparison does not fare well either, as 18 burglaries were committed this year between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, and only 13 were committed in the same period last year.

Overall for the year, however, burglaries have been down by more than 23 percent.

The revelation of other crimes statistics was not surprising on most counts, as crime numbers in the area reveal little change in the trends that have been firmly established this summer.

Auto thefts remain the area of biggest concern for police in the area. Despite several programs designed to prevent the thefts, police are on pace for a 12 percent increase over last year in the number of car thefts in the community.

Robberies also represented a big jump week-over-week in the most recent numbers, though the incidents over a 28-day period have gone down more than 27 percent.

Grand larcenies have seen a similar decrease of nearly 26 percent over the last four weeks, a remarkable statistic given that police at the beginning of the holiday season this year said they were prepared to see a jump in robberies and purse snatchings this year.

Barring a large spike during the last twelve days of 2010, police in the area expect to report another overall crime decrease in Forest Hills and Rego Park.