Crime rates in Nassau County are the lowest since 1966, with the number of reported crimes dropping by almost 25 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to police statistics.
The number of major crimes in the county dropped by 3.5 percent over the past year, with the total number in 2018 recorded as 4,880. Major crimes include murder, rape, felony assault, burglary and robbery.
The total number of crimes countywide went down from 23,713 in 2017 to 22,806 in 2018, a 3.82 percent decrease.
The 3rd Precinct, the largest police precinct in Nassau County, which includes parts of Great Neck and Port Washington, Manhasset, Roslyn, New Hyde Park and Mineola, saw a smaller reduction in major crimes with the rate going down by 0.36 percent.
The precinct’s patrol area is expected to narrow early this year with the resurrection of the Manhasset-based 6th Precinct, which was closed in 2012 in an effort to save money by former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
The 3rd Precinct, located in Williston Park, recorded a decline of 5.4 percent in its total crime rate from 2017 to 2018, a larger drop than the county.
The precinct recorded three murders in 2018, two more than in 2017 and 33 percent of all of the murders across Nassau, according to the police statistics.
One of the murders occurred in August when Great Neck resident Faye Doomchin was accused of fatally stabbing a house guest who was visiting from England.
She was charged with second-degree murder and if convicted will serve up to 25 years in prison.
A Glen Head murder where an altercation between two co-workers turned deadly when one shot the other at a gas station is also included.
There was one more reported rape in 2018 than in the previous prior, as well as three more charges of criminal sexual acts.
Meanwhile, there has been a major decrease in robberies across the precinct’s patrol area with the number of commercial robberies going down by almost 18 percent and a 42 percent drop in all other robberies.
The 3rd Precinct recorded a 7.76 percent reduction in felony assaults.
A report by Newsday listed 16 homicides in the county as of Dec. 26. Three were attributed by the police to gang violence. Two of those actually took place in 2017 but the bodies were not found until 2018, so they are included in 2018’s police statistics.
Police told Newsday that eight of the homicides “were the result of gunshot injuries, six were stabbings and two were from blunt force trauma.”
The Nassau County Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
