Fort Greene City Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo last week introduced legislation that would require police precincts to report the type of sexual offense committed in their crime status reports submitted to police headquarters at One Police Plaza.
For example, there are at least 18 sexual offenses listed in the penal code from including such crimes as rape in the first degree and forcible touching, a.k.a groping. Under Cumbo’s proposal police can better determine and alert the public if there is a pattern of groping in a particular precinct or area.
“In a city as large as ours, crime is often underreported or misreported, making it a challenge to make an accurate assessment of public safety. Increased transparency in how crime data is gathered and categorized will better enable the New York City Police Department to immediately identify and address areas of concern,” said Cumbo, chair of the Committee on Women’s Issues.
Cumbo introduced the measure with the help of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, who feels strengthening how sexual assaults are reported will better serve the public in learning about specific types of sexual assaults and where they may be occurring.
Additionally, it will encourage victims’ to come out and report sexual assaults.
“Sex offenses are very underreported. About 60 percent are not reported at all. So this (law) would help us know more about the prevalence of such crimes and where they are concentrated,” said NYCAASA Executive Director Mary Haviland.
The proposed measure comes as reported rape for the year is up seven percent citywide and misdemeanor sexual crimes are up nearly 22 percent, according to NYPD crime stats.
Brooklyn crime is broken into two sectors. In Brooklyn North rape is even for the year as opposed to this time last year, but reported misdemeanor sex crimes is up 36 percent.
In Brooklyn South rape is up 23 percent and misdemeanor sexual crimes is up about six percent.
