Major crimes dropped 3 percent in Nassau County’s 3rd Precinct in 2011 compared to 2010 when the major crime rate dropped by approximately 10 percent, according to statistics released by the 3rd Precinct.
“In this command, we’re doing pretty well,” 3rd Precinct Chief Inspector Kevin Canavan.
Canavan said officers of the 3rd Precinct had made “pretty significant” arrests over the past month. Included were the apprehension of three men who were charged with committing residential burglaries in the area of Carle Place and Westbury three weeks ago and another trio who were charged with burglaries in the same area last week.
In the more recent case, two of the men were spotted exiting a house. A chase ensued that involved a police helicopter and the three-man crew was arrested.
“These guys are mobile. They might be in Carle Place yesterday. They’re in Mineola today,” Canavan said.
During 2011, residential burglaries rose by 7.49 percent, from 227 incidents last year to 244 incidents this year. The incidence of grand larcenies decreased by 3.4 percent, from 840 incidents to 811 incidents.
But Canavan warned that the holiday season is a prime time for both types of crimes.
“It’s that time of year,” he said.
Burglars take advantage of people taking vacations or making early evening hit-and-run forays into homes for computers, televisions and jewelry when residents aren’t home
To deter burglars, Canavan suggested leaving lights on, asking neighbors to look out for suspicious activity, installing alarm and surveillance systems and getting a big dog. He also suggested securing jewelry in safety vaults – either wall safes or safes bolted to the floor – or putting valuables in other areas of one’s house besides bedrooms, the first place burglars usually check.
“It’s the simple stuff,” he said.
Canavan said that while most pawn shops are reputable and would not accept material without proper documentation, some accept stolen items with no questions asked.
A year-to-year reduction in stolen vehicles of nearly 13 percent in the 3rd Precinct – from 142 vehicles to 124 vehicles – is largely attributable to a strategy implemented earlier this year of putting officers in patrol cars at the Roosevelt Field and Green Acres Malls, Canavan said. He said the police had noticed a pattern of stolen cars moving between the two malls.
The 3rd Precinct addressed shoplifting at Roosevelt Field by working with Macy’s and other “anchor” stores in the mall.
“We’re trying to tighten up our procedures with them,” Canavan said. “It’s now a zero-tolerance policy out there.”
The 3rd Precinct is covers the second largest geographical area of any precinct in the county. The area has a northern border of Manhasset Hills and Roslyn Heights, extending south into Hempstead, and extending from the Floral Park-Bellerose border on the west to the Westbury and New Cassell are on its eastern border.
Commercial burglaries, which include foreclosed homes, represented the single largest incident increase among major crimes in the 3rd Precinct in 2011, rising by 35 percent, from 112 incidents last year to 151 incidents during the current year.
“It’s a countywide problem,” Canavan said. “There’s a lot of vacant houses right now.”
Vacant houses that are in foreclosure are targeted by thieves who strip out copper wiring from them and sell it, according to Canavan. Vacant businesses are also prime targets.
“You put all these things together, and it’s a good way for a bad guy to make some money,” Canavan said.
Canavan said 3rd Precinct officers routinely check businesses while they’re on patrol at night, when commercial burglaries typically occur.
“No one should ever come to work in the morning and find their business burglarized. And we do hold officers accountable,” Canavan said.
He said a newly established neighborhood watch in Carle Place has been an effective deterrent to both residential and commercial burglaries. The 3rd Precinct helped to organize the group and Canavan said the precinct is ready to work with other communities in its jurisdiction to “beef up” existing neighborhood watch groups or help to start new ones.
In one recent case, a woman observed two men who appeared to be in municipal uniforms at a municipal lot in Carle Place on a Saturday. She had never seen activity at that location on a Saturday before, so she reported the men to the police. When 3rd Precinct officers responded, Canavan said they arrested the men for attempting to steal manhole covers, which they would presumably have sold for scrap metal.
A new 3rd Precinct page on Facebook was recently launched by the Nassau County Police Department as a further source of information for residents, and as a means for residents to communicate with the precinct. Canavan said the amount of information about suspects and any crime trends in the area on the Facebook page will be increased over the next several months.
Canavan said there have been “no patterns” of crimes in the Willistons, Mineola or New Hyde Park.
Canavan said that local laws enacted by the Village of East Williston Board of Trustees seems to have helped to curb the problem of teens congregating on the East Williston Village Green and in the nearby Long Island Rail Road station plaza.
“It’s been quiet. I think the kids are getting the message,” he said.
A continuing effort to prevent street robberies that had been a particular problem in Westbury has been significantly reduced with increased street patrols year-to-year by nearly 30 percent, with 75 incidents this year, Canavan said. Commercial robberies in the precinct dropped by 9 percent, with 31 incidents occurring this year.
Felony assaults fell by 7 percent, from 130 incidents last year to 121 incidents this year. No murders occurred in the 3rd Precinct this year.
