Sept 24, 2014 By Michael Florio
Thieves broke into fewer Astoria houses and apartments in the past month than they did this time last year.
For the 28-day period ending September 14, the police reported that there were 27 burglaries in the 114th Precinct, compared to 35 for the same 28-day period in 2013. This represented a 23 percent decline.
Captain John Travaglia of the 114th precinct said the decrease can, in part, be attributed to the arrest of a handful of multiple offenders.
“The majority of these crimes are made by a small number of people,” he said. “These are crimes where one or two individuals can be responsible for 10, 20 or even 30 burglaries.”
He said the precinct has recently made some key arrests.
The precinct, he said, also got the word out to the community at the beginning of the year that there had been a number of break-ins and people became more vigilant about locking their doors and windows.
“When you do an analysis of our burglaries, it’s typically a case of someone gaining entry through a fire escape or just through an unlocked door,” he said.
Burglaries have plagued the precinct this year. Despite the recent decline, they are still up more than 10 percent for the year through Sept. 14, compared to the same period in 2013.
This year, apartments along Steinway Street (from 28th Ave to 30th Ave) have been heavily targeted.
In the past 28-day period, overall crime dropped about 6 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
However, crime is still up about 7 percent for the year through Sept. 14, compared to the same period last year. However, Travaglia said 2014 has still been a good year in terms of keeping crime down.
“Last year was a historic low for the precinct,” he said.
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One Comment
There is a guy following ups truck and then enters the building and stealing packages. Is a black man in his 20’s with a back pack. He rings the bell and unsuspecting people buzz him in. Be careful, he targeted my building but we are working with the cops