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Crime & Safety

Muggings The Hot Topic At Precinct Council Meeting

Precinct Commander insists local police doing everything they can to stop rash of crimes.

The recent rise in muggings and purse-snatchings were foremost on the minds of Forest Hills and Rego Park residents at the 112th Precinct meeting Wednesday night.

Just two days ago, the released s muggings over . However, it wasn’t until that same day that anyone, including community board members, had heard anything regarding the muggings,

“It would have been nice for us to know that there was something going on so we could let the word out in the community so women would be aware” said one representative of

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Police have, just this week, announced the details of 11 forced robbery incidents across three precincts, with the majority of those occurring in the 112.

Deputy Inspector Christopher Tamola said that there are some confidentiality issues and that they must be as accurate as possible before releasing information to the media. “The reason it wasn’t released earlier is because we really didn’t have that much information as far as a perpetrator, a description or direction of flight," Tamola said. "We didn’t really have anything until we were able to get a sketch.”

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Heidi Chain, president of 112th Precinct Community Council, said, “People email me what they have heard and I try to find out if what they have heard is in fact true. If there is something going on, that [the NYPD] doesn’t know about, I want to make sure they know because that’s the most important and to some extent that we can act as a liaison.”

The muggings recently have occured between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. According to the Deputy Inspector, the perpetrator is targeting women from behind, usually between ages 28 and 63. Three out of the six women mugged were listening to their iPods and therefore could not hear the mugger coming from behind.

Deputy Inspector Tamola also took time during yesterday’s community board meeting to clear up some rumors that have been circulating regarding the mugging spree that has plagued Forest Hills.

“There are no firearms involved. There’s no indication that its gang related. Normally in any type of gang related incident the gang players want you to know it’s a gang incident, either they leave a gang statement, gang colors, or are they going against a rival gang,” he said.

Regarding the efforts that the NYPD has made for these muggings, Deputy Inspector Tamola mentioned that there were additional patrolmen on duty to help catch the mugger. “We’re confident that the perpetrators involved may have moved out of the 112 because of our large presence that we have. I want to assure everybody that we’re doing everything we can to work towards this case.”

Along with questions on the mugging spree affecting the area, the NYPD also announced that bicyclists will now be targeted more aggressively than in previous years.

“There’s been a lot of accidents with bicyclists and pedestrians so we’re really starting to crack down on [bicyclists]. If you are riding a bicycle, you are supposed to follow the same traffic laws as if you were driving a motor vehicle” said Lt. John Gavin.

Also in attendance at the meeting was guest speaker Victoria Grappone from Maspeth Savings Bank, who commented briefly regarding safe banking tips.

The meeting concluded with a celebratory announcement for Jimmy Smith, who received the award of the cop of the month. Smith, who has served in the force for 20 years, shook hands with Deputy Inspector Tamola as he accepted the award. Smith said he is to be retiring within the next few months.

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