December 28, 1999

MAJOR CRIMES CONTINUE TO DROP IN QUEENS BELOW 1998 LEVELS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that preliminary mid-December statistics show that all major crimes have declined substantially from the same period last year with the exception of an increase in homicides in Queens South.

District Attorney Brown said, "Preliminary figures through December 12, 1999 show that major crimes have declined again this year by 7.1% in the precincts which comprise Queens North and by 10.3% in the precincts which comprise Queens South. There has, however, been an increase of 22 homicides in Queens South as compared to last year. Although that increase has brought the number of homicides in Queens South to 76, it is still 48.6% lower than the number of murders in Queens South that took place six years ago.

District Attorney Brown said, "The Police Department's crime control strategies and my office's focus on career criminals and other violent predators continue to be successful at driving down the rate of robberies, burglaries and other violent street crime. In addition, our office's proactive investigations of organized narcotics trafficking in and around housing developments across Queens have helped eliminate much of the violence that ordinarily plagues areas afflicted by drug trafficking.

"In addition to long term drug trafficking investigations we have worked closely with the New York City Police Department to effectively prosecute over 8,000 street narcotics arrests and additional quality of life arrests generated by various initiatives. In 1999 our office has obtained 688 search warrants in narcotics cases as compared to 640 last year. Overall, it is my belief that a sustained effort at both street narcotics enforcement as well as more organized violent drug gang investigations have helped drive down the crime rate.

District Attorney Brown, "We have also made enormous progress in cutting the rate of auto crime by almost 68% since 1990. In 1990 50,239 vehicles were stolen here in Queens County as compared to just 13,089 so far this year. If this trend continues until the end of the year, 13,984 cars will be reported stolen in 1999, an overall reduction of 72.2% since 1990. We have made these gains through the use of sting operations, electronic surveillance and investigations into illegal chop shop operations. We have also focused on the stolen auto parts industry and on the individual career car thief, obtaining convictions and prison sentences in a significant number of cases."

District Attorney Brown concluded, "It is clear that enhanced investigative efforts and heightened narcotics enforcement, as well as our persistence in convicting career criminals and repeat offenders, have had a major impact on crime in Queens County. By continuing - - and expanding on - - the successful strategies that we have employed in the last few years, I am hopeful that we will be able to reduce crime even further during the years ahead."