In spite of a nagging series of burglaries in one sector of the Village, the latest police statistics indicate that crime in Pinecrest ­ like the rest of the country ­ is on the decline.

Burglary, auto theft, assault and robbery all registered significant drops through the first 10 months of the year, as opposed to the same periods of last year and 1997.

"We had significant decreases in all major part one crimes," said Pinecrest Police Commander Mike Liotti. "Burglaries are more than half of what they were for the same period two years ago, auto theft is almost half of what it was, aggravated assaults are down to eight incidents from 61 in 1997 and robbery is down by half."

Police statistics indicate that there were 105 incidents of burglary for the period ended Oct. 31, as opposed to 149 in the same period a year ago and 223 incidents in 1997. Still, the neighborhood bounded by 57 and 62 Avenues and 104 and 92 Streets has seen an outbreak of break-ins this year, including one where thieves carted away a heavy safe holding $75,000 in jewelry.

"We had a few burglaries in that specific area ­ 15 to be exact -- and we are identifying what the problem is," said Liotti. "However, in Pinecrest as a whole, we do not have a burglary problem.

Liotti said that of the 105 burglaries through October, 81 were residential and 25 were break-ins at business locations, an average of less than seven residential burglaries a month in the Village.

"Burglaries are very difficult to solve and burglars are difficult to catch," he said. "These guys know where we are in the daytime, which is when the majority of burglaries occur. We could flood an area with 40 policemen for two months and as soon as we pull the extra officers out, the burglars are going to know about it and they're going to start all over again."

Liotti also released preliminary burglary statistics for November, which he said indicated no significant increase in break-ins in Pinecrest. He said a total of 13 burglaries were reported last month; eight occurred at residences, four were at businesses and there was one burglary attempt.

Meantime, auto theft in Pinecrest showed a dramatic decline, with only 52 vehicles stolen for the period ended Oct. 31, as opposed to 85 car thefts for the same period last year and 96 stolen vehicles in 1997.

Aggravated assault also fell to just eight reported incidents, as compared with 23 a year ago and 61 in 1997.

"Now that there's a local policing operation, people have a tendency to call and report minor crime more frequently than in the past," Liotti explained. "Larceny includes petty crime, things like missing lawnmowers and bicycles and the like."