The 7th Precinct Community Council meeting will be held tonight at 7:30. If you've never been to one of these monthly meetings, they are a good opportunity to ask NYPD officials about public safety issues. The 7th Precinct's commander, Nancy Barry, gives an overview of crime-fighting efforts in the neighborhood, officers discuss various outreach and education programs in the community and then there is a question and answer period.
The NYPD places a heavy emphasis on the reporting of each precinct's crime statistics.
They use these meetings to drive home the point that, at least on paper, the crime rate continues to fall throughout New York City. For example, based on the latest report on the Police Department's web site, there have only been two murders in the 7th Precinct in 2009, 10 rapes, 133 robberies, 106 assaults, 66 burlglaries and 234 grand larcenies. Back in 1990, the 7th Precinct reported 18 murders, 18 rapes and a total number of crimes that far surpassed this year's total of 592.
Although the department releases these raw numbers, there are not a lot of other details provided about crime in the neighborhood. Other precincts, for example, allow media organizations (both newspapers and blogs) to view crime reports, and to publish certain details. The 7th, however, has declined requests from The Lo-Down to release this type of information.
The 7th Precinct Community Council meeting begins at 7:30pm. The precinct is located at the corner of Pitt and Delancey Streets.
