Brian Hennessy
Jan. 20, 2016 By Michael Florio
The 115 Precinct had the fewest murders on record last year.
According to Deputy Inspector Brian Hennessy, Commanding Officer of the 115 Precinct, only one murder took place in 2015, the lowest number since the NYPD started keeping crime stats in 1993.
The lone incident was a robbery that led to the murder of 80-year-old Celica Londono on Sept. 5. Jordan Vecchio, 32, used a box cutter to cut Londono’s purse from her shoulder and pushed her to the ground before running off, according to authorities. She passed away due to her injuries on Sept. 9.
Vecchio was arrested on the day of the incident and was charged with murder on Jan. 15, according to the NYPD.
“That is the lowest number ever recorded since crime stats started being recorded in 1993,” Hennessy said. “But it is still one murder too many.”
The number of murders is down from the six the precinct saw in 2014, three of which were gang related, which Hennessy said pushed the 115 Precinct to emphasize gang enforcement.
Crime also dropped overall in 2015, as the precinct was down 92 incidents from 2014, or 4.9 percent, according to Hennessy.
The largest decrease was with burglaries, which saw a decrease of 103 incidents from 2014.
Hennessy said that a pattern of residential burglaries occurred early in 2015 and that a few key arrests led to this decrease.
“Between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt from 98th Street to 114th Street was the epicenter of our problem to start the year,” he said. “We arrested five to six parolees in that area breaking into homes.”
The precinct also saw a decrease of 19 stolen vehicles, with 140 incidents last year compared to 159 in 2014.
However, not all crimes decreased in 2015.
The precinct saw 10 shootings, with 11 victims, compared to seven shootings with 10 victims in 2014.
The precinct also saw an uptick in rapes, with 33 incidents in 2015 compared to 30 in 2014. Assaults saw an increase of 15 incidents, with 368 incidents compared to 353 in 2014.
There was an increase of 16 grand larcenies, 679 from 663 in 2014. A skimming device planted in the 7-Eleven at 79-01 Northern Blvd. in October drove up this number, according to Hennessy.
The amount of robberies remained stagnant with 338 incidents in 2015 compared to 337 in 2014.
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3 Comments
Police can’t lower murder rates.Too many factors beyond anyone’s control.
That is great news. I would have never believed it possible as a life long resident of the area (50 plus years). Credit good police work and the benefits of gentrification. Congratulations to all involved!!
Uhhhhh. Who is keeping the records, because they need to be fired.