Sean McCarthy, inspector of the Nassau County Police Department’s 3rd Precinct, told a community forum in New Hyde Park on Wednesday that a series of home burglaries that have taken place throughout the North Shore in the last year were conducted by an “organized, professional, meticulous” group likely comprised of career criminals.
McCarthy told an audience of about 200 people at Clinton G. Martin Park that the department is investigating several possible suspects, but said he could not disclose how many are being investigated, or detail how police have narrowed their search, due to the ongoing investigation.
He said that two arrests were made in June and November 2014 that led to brief lulls in the frequency of burglaries, which began in the New Hyde Park and Williston Park areas early last year but picked up again in the Munsey Park and Flower Hill communities once police increased patrols in the southern portions of the precinct.
Since the start of the year, there have been 19 burglaries – 15 in January, three in February and one through March 11 – that McCarthy said fit the pattern of incidents being investigated, through which burglars dressed as utility workers patrol a neighborhood and enter unoccupied homes.
“It has slowed down a great deal, but it hasn’t gone away completely,” McCarthy said, attributing the slowdown to heavy snowfall during the winter. “…Sometimes, mother nature is our greatest ally.”
The community forum was organized by the Town of North Hempstead and attended by members of the Port Washington Police Department, among 10 local departments that assist the 3rd Precinct, as well as representatives from state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel and state Sen. Jack Martins’ offices.
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in her opening remarks that the assembly was a “unique forum” to join community leaders and local law enforcement in curbing the burglaries, citing a similar string of incidents in late 2009 in Manhasset Hills that led to a similar forum.
She said the 3rd Precinct, which was created in place of the former 6th Precinct in Manhasset during the Nassau County Police Department’s 2012 consolidation of precincts, has so far done a “remarkable job” in the North Hempstead community, but added that stopping crime takes a community effort.
“We have to be proactive,” Bosworth said. “We have to make sure that we’re partners with the police, partners with each other, taking care of our homes and we’re also being vigilant with what’s going on across the street, next door. This is all so important.”
McCarthy said the public’s help in providing tips to the department is crucial to the investigation, as officers have collected little physical evidence in the way of DNA, hair, clothes and other items that may have been left behind at crime scenes.
He also urged that if a house is burglarized, residents should immediately call 911 and resist the urge to clean up any broken glass or damaged property left behind.
The precinct has used a variety of law enforcement tools to analyze the burglaries across the area, including the department’s tracking software and record-keeping programs as well as social media and other, more traditional investigative strategies, McCarthy said.
“We do a lot of things that weren’t available even 10 years ago,” McCarthy said. “We still do a lot of legwork, but we have a lot of technology to supplement that.”
Officers also provided various ways of fortifying one’s home from being a target of the burglaries – inlcuding the use of home security systems, keeping valuables locked in a safe bolted to one’s floor, keeping vacation plans off social media, locking all doors and windows when one leaves, turning on outside doors at night and contacting neighbors to collect mail and newspapers when one is out of town.
McCarthy also suggested residents sign up for the county’s new Smart 911 program, through which personal information may be provided to the county for enhanced assistance during emergency situations.
“We are here to serve your needs, and it is imperative you help us do that,” he said.
