Wakefield News: Where the Cops Aren’t

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Wakefield Area News

By Mary V. Lauro

BRONX, NEW YORK, January 16- The newspapers have been shrieking that last year (2012) murder in the City shrank to a record low. If we are to believe CompStat figures that is true enough, but it is not true for the 47 Precinct. While we had five less murders than in 2011, at 16, we were still the second highest in murders in the Bronx. We were beat out by the 43^rd Precinct which had 18. In regard to murder, the 45^th Precinct gets the prize. It had only two murders through 2012.

Close to murder is the category shooting victims. Sorry to say, the 47^th again wins a prize. At 59 shooting victims, it ties with the 46^th Pct. for highest in the Bronx.

In the rape category, the 47^th is still the second highest sharing the spot with the 42 and 46.

Overall, citywide crime has increased. The Mayor thinks it is because thieves are stealing iPhones. We don't. The slight increase in robbery citywide does not translate to iPhone thefts. Whatever the Mayor thinks, robbery in the 47^th climbed to 500, an increase over last year of 15.5 percent.

What is truly amazing are the statistics for grand larceny auto otherwise known as car thefts. In every single precinct in the Bronx there was a diminution of car thefts. Even so, who had the highest number of cars stolen? You guessed it. The 47^th Precinct at 250.

In felonious assault there seems to be an overall increase both city-wide and Bronx-wide. The 47^th increased as well, but maintained third place highest. Keep in mind that there are 12 Precincts in the Bronx. Being third highest means 9 other precincts did better than we did.

In burglary, at 394, the 47^th did 4.1 percent better than last year. However it remains the second highest in the Bronx.

Grand larceny seems to have increased throughout the city. Every Bronx Precinct increased. The 47^th increased 34 percent, but is on a par with most Bronx Precincts.

We will not deny that when we speak of the low crime rate in the 50^th Precinct (Riverdale) there is an element of envy in it. But one must remember that 30 years ago Wakefield easily competed with the 50^th Precinct. There was very little crime here, while today it is the second highest in crime sector in the 47^th Precinct. The question is what impedes crime?

To a large extent the moral and civic attitudes of its residents is a factor in the amount of crime a community can experience. (If they are good people or wealthy people you will get less crime.) Allied to this is the number of available agents (police) whose presence can inhibit incipient crime. So that two people out of a 100 want to commit robbery. If there is one cop, he can keep an eye on one would-be robber. The other robber can commit the crime with no problem. If there are no cops, then crime rises.

What is interesting about the 50^th as well as other areas of wealth is that they don't seem to be bothered by criminals from other communities. One would expect robbers and burglars to go where the wealth is. Instead they travel to communities which are not so wealthy. Now what could cause this strange behavior? Perhaps it is because the wealthy communities received more police presence than the poorer ones?

At this point we get a lot of handwringing. How could we entertain such a thought? Easily. We think the NYPD uses the "epidemic" mindset. In this mode of thinking, an area which is not experiencing the ravages of an epidemic disease is kept healthy by all sorts of means so as not to pollute it with disease. By the same token, all of the assistance the disease-free area receives is assistance not available to the diseased areas.

We want to make very clear that in no way do we fault the 47th's commander or its officers for the poor showing of the 47^th in 2012. We identified the problem many years ago, but our pleas and cries have been consistently silenced with false promises. In reality, when one considers the constant crime and the daily calls for police, except for one or two duds, the 47^th is overwhelmingly staffed with superheroes and great commanders.