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The NYPD will be releasing crime statistics in more city parks, with the number expected to grow over the next six months.
It was announced last week that the Police Department would add 10 other parks to the list of 20 that it already releases crime data for. They include Canarsie Park and Joseph T. McGuire Park in Brooklyn and Kissena Park and Rockaway Community/Edgemere Park in Queens, along with six others, two in each borough.
"We tell residents about the crime on the streets," said Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., who co-sponsored legislation mandating that the NYPD release crime statistics for parks. "They also deserve to know about the crimes on the grass just the same."
In 2005, Vallone and Councilman Joseph Addabbo introduced a bill that would require the department to release crime information for all of the city's parks. But recognizing certain technological complications, the City Council and NYPD agreed to start with the four largest parks in each borough, and expand from there.
Last week, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly admitted that the additional reporting would be difficult to manage, but that the NYPD was committed to the program.
"While this expansion will place an added burden upon the department's resources," he said, "we do so in the interest of strengthening the collaborative relationship that currently exists between the NYPD, the City Council, and the community we serve."
An advocacy group called New Yorkers for Parks recently compiled the statistics for the last 18 months in the 20 pilot parks and found that 308 crimes were committed.
"Parks are a place for people to let their guard down and be alone, but that peace can sometimes put them at risk," said Vallone. "Now that we have statistics on more parks, people will have more tools to stay safe."
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