Posted: Dec 18 2015 at 10:26pm | Views: 1469
Crime in Co-op City at historic lows in many major categories
By Bill Stutting
While it certainly can't be said that crime in Co-op City is almost non-existent, especially in the area of auto larcenies which saw a sharp rise in 2012 as compared to the year before, it can be said that certain types of crimes have been virtually non-existent in Coop City this after after looking at the community's crime statistics for 2015.
A look at a preliminary crime analysis for the year 2015 prepared by
Riverbay's Department of Public Safety reveals that for the second year in a row, no homicides have occurred within Co-op City. By comparison in the Bronx as a whole, 85 murders have been reported this year so far, according to the NYPD, including three that occurred within the 45th Precint, but not in this community.
Likewise, burglaries of all types have not occurred in the community so far this year, an unprecendented development in the history of the community as on looks at crime statistics taken over the last 25 years. Public Safety reported no apartment burglaries, attempted apartment burglaries, commercial burglaries, or Riverbay property burglaries in 2015. In comparison, a total of seven burglaries and one attempted burglary were reported last year.
The crime of robbery, which is defined by law enforcement as the theft of property through force or the threat of force, also is reported at low levels here by Public Safety with just six such incidents reported this year, the same total as last year.
While there is no change in the number of robbery reports in 2015, compared to 2014, Chief Frank Apollo, Commander of the Department of Public Safety, said that the reduction in robberies in Coop City is stark when compared to decades prior in the community.
For example, 10 years ago, in 2005, there were 27 reported robberies in Co-op City, more than four times the current amount, and in 1995, 20 years ago, there were 80 reported robberies, more than 15 times the amount of robberies reported today. If you go back to 1991, the number of robberies reported here was 225.
Another violence-related crime, assault, decreased slightly this year as 15 assaults were reported, as opposed to 19 in 2014, a 12% drop. But the number of assaults is down more than 300% from the historic reported high of 47 assaults in 2007, eight years ago.
While there has been a reported reduction in other major crime categories, such as reports of graffiti, which is down 21%, there was a noticeable and troubling rise in other categories, including shots fired. Even though there were only 5 reports of guns fired in 2014, that number rose sharply to 11 in 2015, an increase of 120%. Never-theless, that number, while still troubling, is way below the historic high number of reports of gun-fire which was 145 in the year 2003.
The other major crime category that saw a significant rise over the previous year was larceny from auto or the theft of personal items from an auto usually by breaking in. That crime increased by 29% in 2015. Forty-four auto break-ins were reported this year, as opposed to 34 last year. Chief Apollo said that the increase can be traced to a rash of auto break-ins that were reported last summer in the Baychester Avenue vicinity. Undercover officers were assigned to the area and arrests were made which reduced the number of these crimes occurring but did not stop them altogether. Apollo further explained that these crimes mostly occur no in the garages, but on Co-op City perimeter thoroughfares, such as Baychester Avenue, where criminals have easy highway access after committing their crimes.
There were two reported auto thefts in Coop City this year, the same as last year, a significant reduction from a recent high of 26 reported in 2009.
Reports of people charged with disorderly conduct in the community was down to an historic low this year with 431 such cases reported, down from 440 reported last year and significantly down from the historic high amount for this community reported in 2007 which saw 1,953 reported cases of disorderly conduct.
Public Safety officers and detectives made a combined total of 177 arrests last year, down 5% from the previous year. Personnel issued a total of 1,099 summonses, down 1% from the previous year.
The Detective Unit also reported three guns discovered during crime investigations being removed from the streets.
The Detective Unit reported working on 506 cases last year, of which 455 were closed out upon the conclusion of the investigations, resulting in either an arrest, a summons being issued or an eviction.
Some cases are close out under the heading "pending further development," which likely means that, in some cases, the complaintant is uncooperative or no further leads are apparently developing. Such cases are often reopened if a tip or other information comes to light in the weeks and months after the original crime was committed, explained Lt. Anthony Warner, head of the
Public Safety Detective Unit.
Chief Frank Apollo said this week that many factors play a key role in helping the department maintain Coop City as one of the safest communities in New York City, the first one being the cooperation of the shareholders, the ongoing partnership with the
45th precint, along with a very supportive Board of Directors led by President Cleve Taylor, management led by Noel Ellison and the technical support provided by the
Technical Services Department and its director Rick Schmidt.
"Community policing that we engage in here at Co-op City is clearly bringing benefits to the overall community," said Noel Ellison, interim General Manager of Riverbay Corporation. "Our officers realize they are more than just cops and are, in fact, part of the larger community and therefore have bought into the idea that we are all a family. The use of the body cameras has allowed our officers to be more comfortable in performing their duties and overall, we can all be proud of the service they give to this community. Our Public Safety Department is certainly an example to communities across the nation."
Chief Apollo added, "I commend every single member of my staff for making their individual contributions in keeping the community safe and building trust with our residents. The fact that the community has what I consider to be its own Police Department is invaluable to the residents. I am truly blessed as a commander to have been surrounded by so many supportive and dedicated persons from both within and outside the department. One person cannot run a law enforcement department alone; it takes a team."
Bill Stutting
Taken from The Co-op City Times
now online
