UpdatedThu, Jan 21, 2021 at 4:36 pm ET
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NYPD Captain Joseph E. Cappelmann addresses the 112th Precinct Community Council on Wednesday night. (Patch screenshot)
FOREST HILLS, QUEENS New York City may have seen a spike in violent crime in 2020, but Forest Hills and Rego Park bucked the trend.
Crime levels in the neighborhood saw only a small uptick last year, thanks to a slight increase in burglaries, robberies and car thefts, according to NYPD Captain Joseph Cappelmann, the commanding officer of the 112th Precinct.
Overall, the precinct has continued averaging 12 crimes a week, he said.
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Officers started seeing more burglaries at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, mostly at chain pharmacies and retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Target, Cappelmann said during a 112th Precinct Community Council meeting Wednesday night.
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Crime has increased nearly 8.4 percent in the 112th Precinct on the year through Dec. 13 compared to the same period in 2019.
But Capt. Joseph Cappelmann, commanding officer of the 112th Precinct, said when dealing with small numbers, the percentage fluctuates more.
The 569 index crimes are a jump from 525 but come out to about one more a week.
âA few crimes in a week will drive my percentage increase significantly whereas in a command that has a lot more crime it wonât move the percent as much,â Cappelmann said. âA lot of times you get caught up on the percentages.â
Thatâs not to say there havenât been issues, such as everyone wearing masks due to Covid making it more difficult to find perpetrators in addition to people being released early due to Covid.