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Jamaica sees rise in murders

By Bryan Schwartzman

Despite the fact that overall crime dropped in both the 103rd and the 113th precincts in 1999, the number of murders increased this past year in both precincts, Officer Joseph Cavitolo said.

In the 103rd Precinct, which covers Jamaica, murders rose to 19 in 1999 from 16 in 1998. There were 15 murders in the 113th Precinct, up five from the preceding year, according to year-end statistics released by the Police Department Monday.

But overall crime decreased in the 103rd precinct, down 2.6 percent from the prior year despite increases in rapes and robberies. With 3,111 criminal complaints on file, overall crime in the 113th Precinct dropped by 8.5 percent and decreased in every major crime category except murder.

In the 103rd precinct, rapes rose to 47 in 1999 from 45 in 1998, while the number of robberies jumped 770 last year from 751 the prior year.

But Donna Clapton, the president of the 103rd Community Precinct Council said the most surprising statistics was the decrease in grand larceny auto to 595 in 1999 from 602 in 1998.