The 106th Precinct’s top cop this week indicated that gang violence has recently spiked in pockets of South Ozone Park, with four shootings spurring a deployment of Special Operations units to the affected areas.
“Right now we have a bit of a gang situation in South Ozone Park,” said Deputy Inspector Jeff Schiff, the precinct’s commanding officer, at Tuesday evening’s Howard Beach-Lindenwood Civic meeting. “We see some commonality with these [four] shootings.”
Schiff also said that the spate of violence might be linked to a sect of the Crips street gang. As a result, NYPD Narcotics Division and Gang Intelligence officers, among other specialized units, have increased their presence in South Ozone Park.
“We do have a shooting problem,” Schiff emphasized. “We have a neighborhood that is being terrorized by these gangs.”
For the year, Schiff said, overall crime in the 106 is up slightly—by 19 offenses—compared to this time in 2014.
“Burglaries have been plaguing us for a good two months now,” he acknowledged, before noting that the command has made a few arrests recently after “some forensic [evidence] was collected from different burglary scenes and analyzed.”
Additionally, Schiff said an unusual proliferation in activity along Cross Bay Boulevard—eight felonies in the past month—has contributed to the recent 30-percent leap in crime in New Howard Beach.
“It is a little surprising,” he said.
By Michael V. Cusenza michael@theforumnewsgroup.com
