Crime Soars In The Rockaways
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Felonies in New York City stayed virtually flat in the past year, up just a quarter of a percent according to NYPD statistics, but in one precinct that covers the western part of the Rockaways, crime has soared.
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It was no surprise to one woman on Monday that burglaries spiked 144 percent there. Felony assaults are up 66 percent in the 100th Precinct.
LINK: NYPD Report on 100th Precinct (PDF)
"My husband had a coin collection. That was taken, and a watch and a bracelet. He didn't get anything of mine," said Maureen of her home being robbed.
Her husband, Charles Meier, is a retired cop.
"I don't like to say it, but I have to. I didn't follow my own advice. I was a crime prevention officer for the 63rd precinct for 13 years. What I should have done was installed an alarm system," Meier told WCBS 880 reporter Alex Silverman.
He said he would have handled things differently if he were running the 100th precinct.
"They flooded the area with uniformed policemen. Now, [in] my experience with the police department, if you have a problem with burglaries, you don't flood the area with uniformed policemen, you flood the area with ununiformed police," he said. "All that did was drive the burglar to another area or let him lay low for a while. But I was shocked they just didn't use the plainclothesmen instead of the uniformed guys."
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Meyer said the thieves who robbed him used tools to bust in, but several people in the Belle Harbor area say they never lock their doors.
The 20th precinct, which covers part of the Upper West Side, saw the biggest drop in crime - down 12 percent.
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