CRIME WAY DOWN IN ROCKLAND

Reported felony crimes in Rockland dropped to a record low last year, as a
dramatic decrease in Spring Valley fueled a lower crime rate for the 10th
straight year.

Felonies in the county dropped from 8,417 in 1995 to 5,271 last year, the
lowest level since the state began accumulating statistics in 1974.

The overall decrease is across the board of crimes against people: murder,
rape, robbery, burglary and aggravated assault. Property crimes like motor
vehicle theft and larceny also dropped to record lows.

"I never thought we'd get this low for a suburban New York City county,"
Rockland District Attorney Michael Bongiorno said. "The decrease in Spring
Valley, which has always had a high crime rate, helped fuel the record low
in reported crimes. The other communities either decreased or remained flat."

Spring Valley's decline in all felony categories in the decade was the
county's sharpest, at 61.3 percent. The numbers to date show a projected
18.4 percent decrease this year from 2004.

The village still reported the most violent crimes in the county - 190 -
last year, but that was 300 fewer than 1995.

"We haven't discovered any newfangled gadget," Spring Valley Police Chief
Anthony Furco said. "Our officers and our street crime unit are far more
aggressive in working together to prevent crime than ever before.

"The crime statistics show that, even if people are not really noticing,"
Furco said. The village, he said, is still trying to overcome a reputation
as a crime-ridden community.

Germania McCleef, 18, of Lake Street said she had not seen much street
crime or street fights in the past few years.

"There has been a lot less ruckus on the streets," she said. "People are
not taking their conflicts out onto the streets. I don't feel unsafe living
in this neighborhood.

"I see quite a few police, but I don't think any more than usual," she said.

Spring Valley also has benefited from assistance from other law enforcement
agencies. The Rockland Narcotics Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Agency
and the state police have worked with village police to break up several
drug-dealing rings and make several dozen arrests in the past two years.
Village detectives broke up several street robbery rings.

Virginia Beasley, 66, a lifelong village resident, said she noticed the
changes. But, she said, the village has been unfairly labeled as a
dangerous community. Rather, she said, it is a growing community of
hard-working people.

"I guess I live in an area some people consider dangerous," she said. "I've
never felt scared walking in my neighborhood or any street in the area."

Beasley said the police were working hard and the community was striving to
improve its image.

"There is crime everywhere you go," she said. "I feel Spring Valley gets a
bad rap."

Bongiorno also attributed the county's declining crime rate to a decade of
continuous pressure on drug dealing, which, he said, was tied to violent
crime like shootings, burglaries and robberies.

The district attorney also said longer prison sentences for repeat
offenders and those convicted of violent crimes had kept career criminals
off the streets.

Felony drug arrests dropped slightly to 295 in 2004, from 321 in 2003, but
were still greater than the 220 reported in 1995.

Police arrested 3,305 people on misdemeanor drug charges in 2004, more than
the year before (3,075) and in 1995 (2,334).

"I don't think criminals wake up in the morning and decide to go straight,"
Bongiorno said. "If someone is in prison for 10 years, they are not robbing
you, burglarizing you, stealing your car or shooting a rival drug dealer."

Economic development and a stable economy also help bring down crime rates.

Many crimes, like burglaries, are cyclical, police said. One burglary team
can commit dozens of break-ins until its members are caught or scared off.

The most commonly reported crime in Rockland is larceny, defined as
stealing property or money or both from people, business or government.
Larcenies include financial fraud, such as using stolen or forged credit
cards; employees stealing from businesses; and theft by computer. It
includes stealing property during burglaries and car break-ins.

In large part because the county's two malls lie within its jurisdiction,
Clarkstown police again dealt with the highest number of reported
larcenies: 1,712 in 2004.

Town police have added extra patrols and officers at the Palisades Center
but not at the town's other shopping centers.