Crime in Hempstead
Nassau News Staff Writer
Crime in the village of Hempstead, specifically drug use and distribution, has deterred the growth of the community for quite some time. According to crime indexes, 15 percent of over 2,600 criminal offenses in Hempstead in 2007 were related to drug activity. That number is projected to be matched in 2008.
Seven murders were reported all of last year and there have been five this year through April 1. Areas like Terrace Avenue and Bedell Street have become the lowlights of a place that use to service as the “hub” of Long Island, NY.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Hempstead Chief of Police Joseph Wing are working to rid Hempstead of violence and drug use.
One such initiative, the Terrace-Bedell Initiative was put in place when the Hempstead Police Department and the District Attorney’s office joined together in the war on crime. Nassau News takes a look at the current state of affairs in law and order in the village.
To view this article as a video, click on the first embedded player below. To read the transcript of the video, click here
Read the Print Version of this Article
Crime in the village of Hempstead, specifically drug use and distribution, has deterred the growth of the community for quite some time.
There were over 2,600 criminal offenses in Hempstead in 2007. That number is projected to be matched in 2008. There were seven murders all of last year and there have been five this year through Apr 1. Where is this going?
Areas like Terrace Avenue and Bedell Street have become the lowlights of a village that use to service as the “hub” of Long Island. People like Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Hempstead Chief of Police Joseph Wing are hard at work in ridding Hempstead of violence and drug use.
“On January 8th, we started the Terrace-Bedell Initiative,” Chief Wing told Nassau News. “The Hempstead Police Department partnered with the District Attorney’s office.”
The Terrace-Bedell Initiative was put in place as a precursor to future initiatives that will rid neighborhoods of drugs and violence. The program implemented in Hempstead is modeled on project that was implemented in North Carolina called “The Ashburton Ave. Partnership.”
“Recently, we took 14 individuals and gave them the opportunity to not be arrested as long as they agreed not to engage in criminal activity,” Wing said. “In an effort to help them, we offered them educational services, health and awareness services to aid them.”
Rice, a Democrat, unveiled the plan during a meeting at the African-American Museum in Hempstead, near Terrace Avenue and Bedell Street, one of the county's largest, most violent and longest-running open-air drug markets.
Some critics of this initiative have questioned as to why a predominately African American neighborhood was chosen for this and not a mixed or Caucasian area.
“This community chose itself,” Kathleen Rice said. “Any allegation involving motivations having to do with race are just distractions from the main goal here.”
The goal of the initiative is to create a safer environment, which use to be known in that area of Hempstead.
“We have a community that wants to be able to raise their children in a safe environment,” she said.
With violence and drugs coupled together, it’s hard to find a reason as to why this neighborhood should not have been chosen.
“The community dictated the initiative,” Rice said. “We believe this will be successful because of their involvement.”
Related Links
- To view a comprehensive study of Hempstead, NY, and statistical information that covers demographics, income, race, housing rates, etc. click here.
- To see a comprehensive spreadsheet of criminal activity reported from 2002-2006 in all of Nassau County, NY, click here.
- For an in-depth study on the Village of Hempstead, click here. Citydata.com covers home sales, foreclosure rates, crime rates, demographics, housing sales, etc.
- To view an overview of the Village of Hempstead, click here. Citytowninfo.com harvests information about given cities. In this case, it displays demographics, crime rates, average household income, ancestry, etc.
- To read a list of all the current sex offenders in Hempstead, NY, click here.
Additional video interviews
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice sat down with Nassau News on Apr. 11, 2008 at the Nassau County Court House to discuss the drug and violent crime problem that exists on Terrace Ave. and Bedell St. in the Village of Hempstead. Click on the embedded player below to view the interview. To read the transcript of the interview, click here.
Hempstead Chief of Police Joseph Wing met with Nassau News on Apr. 10, 2008 at police headquarters to talk about the state of Hempstead Village and discuss violent crime and drugs. Click on the embedded player below to view the video. To read the transcript, click here.
To see where this story ventured to in the Village of Hempstead, scroll over and click on the map below.
To read the production memo for this story, click here.
