By Stephen Witt
It took two years, but the 67th Precinct was recently honored at One Police Plaza for having the largest reduction in overall felony crime in New York City for 2003. Inspector Richard Boyce, the precinct’s commanding officer, accepted the award from Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg before about 100 officers from the precinct on June 9. “It [the award] was a combined effort of every man and woman in the precinct working as one to achieve the reduction,” said Boyd, adding the award is usually given two years later when final crime statistics for the year are tallied. According to the program given with the citation, the crime reduction success was achieved through the establishment of in-house units and strategies to respond to specific conditions. Additionally, the Robbery Apprehension Module (RAM), in conjunction with the Anti-Crime Unit, identified areas that required aggressive patrol. Precinct patrols also targeted burglary-prone buildings and performed more vertical patrols to deter crime. The program noted as well that the precinct sponsored numerous programs for the youth and to improve community relations. These programs included a basketball league, youth council and Law Enforcement Explorers Program. The result of all this was five of the seven major crime categories recording double-digit decreases, including rape by 33 percent; robbery by 22 percent; grand larceny by 10 percent; burglary by 21 percent and Grand Larceny Auto by 14 percent. In total, the precinct recorded 475 fewer felonies in 2003 as compared to 2002. Thus far this year, the precinct continues a strong downward trend in major crime complaints, particularly in murders, which is down nearly 70 percent with only 4 homicides reported this year as compared to 13 at the same time last year. Boyce attributed the decrease in murder to the precinct working hard to keep guns off the street, which has also resulted in shootings being down for the year. Other major crimes down for the year include rape, felony assault, burglary, and grand larceny and auto theft. Also expressing compliments to the precinct was Lt. James Woods of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Community Affairs. “It [the citation] was the result of a lot of hard work to reduce crime, and it’s an effort by not only the precinct itself, but by the community. The community and precinct work hand in hand to keep crime down and everybody deserves recognition for that,” said Woods. “The department administration has worked hard to identify crime trends very quickly and it appears to be paying off. Inspector Boyce is a very hands-on inspector and he deserves a lot of credit as does his staff,” Woods added.
