Safe area to get more cops

Florescu Viorel freelance NYDN/Florescu Viorel freelance NYDN

The 49th Precinct will get more officers, despite low crime.

Morris Park, Allerton, Pelham Gardens and Eastchester are about to get 18 new cops — despite having one of the lowest crime rates in the city.

But don’t worry, said 49th Precinct Deputy Inspector Lorenzo “Andy” Johnson, they’ll be busy enough.

“They’re all going to be on patrol,” Johnson told the 49th Precinct Community Council Tuesday.

The new officers would replace cops lost to retirement, promotions or transfers for a net gain of three or four, Johnson said.

“I’m, a lot better off than some precincts, so I can’t complain,” he said.

The 49th Precinct is one of the safest in the city, statistics show. So far this year, there have been two murders, compared to seven in the same period last year. The 13 rapes so far this year are down from 17 last year. And robberies are down nearly 40% — from 262 last year to 166 so far this year.

Boroughwide, crime continues to plummet. There have been 68 murders so far this year, and 97 to this point last year, a 30% drop. Rapes are down slightly 227 from 237, and robberies are down to 3,553 from 3,727.

Residents of the 49th Precinct said they felt safer, thanks to cooperation between locals and the men and women in blue.

“Five years ago in Van Nest, there was so much crime, there was so much drugs – we didn’t know what to do,” Shradhanand Pirtamy, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, said. “We’re happy to say the quality of life came back 90%. We all work together.”

jcunningham@nydailynews.com

Yahoo Local News – New York Daily News

http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=16635

via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info