Lock your cars, protect yourself, police advise at civic meeting

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During the past few weeks the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Civic Association have received many emails and calls from residents saying that they were concerned about their safety. There have been several postings on Facebook too, one even saying that someone had a gun held to their head.

In response to these concerns, the civic association held a meeting at the Italian-American Club on March 13. Matthew McCartin, an officer from the Nassau County Police Department 2nd Precinct’s Problem Oriented Policing unit, and Justin McCaffrey, commissioner of the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Public Safety, were invited to speak. Councilwoman Michele Johnson also came.

“We have been inundated with calls from residents saying they heard of break-ins, stolen cars, items stolen from cars and theft,” said Rich LaMarca, the civic association’s president. “We are scared and are concerned for our community. We want to know what is going on.”

Police had no record of someone having a gun held to their head. In fact, from Dec. 1, 2017, to Feb. 25 of this year, there were only been eight crimes reported in the hamlet. And some could have been avoided, McCartin said, had people been more careful. “There were two stolen autos, and both owners didn’t lock their car doors,” he said. “In one instance, the keys were in the vehicle. I can’t stress it enough to take a few minutes to press that button on your car.”

The POP unit and the Department of Public Safety share crime information. “We try to get at the root of the problem to solve crimes,” said McCaffrey, who was a New York City police sergeant in the gang and narcotics unit. “No community is immune to crime.”

Public Safety officers, who are unarmed, handle quality-of-life issues and security at parks like Oyster Bay’s Theodore Roosevelt Park. “We focus our attention on any town-owned property, including the beach,” McCaffrey said, adding that Public Safety can be called on the weekends. “We work closely with the second precinct.”

One resident said he had change stolen from his car on two occasions. But he didn’t report the thefts to police because he blamed himself for forgetting to lock his car. McCartin said he should have reported it. “We look at patterns,” he explained.

One resident asked if he needed to worry about gang activity in Oyster Bay. McCartin said there had been no gang-related reports in the hamlet.

It was reported in an email to the civic association that three people were using flashlights to look into cars and garages. One

homeowner had a video of the activity. “Videos are great for us,” McCartin said. “We can download it and use our technology.”

When school safety came up, he said that police are taking every threat seriously. “We aren’t playing around,” he said. “If kids put stuff on social media, that they have guns or want to attack anyone, we take it seriously. Some kids don’t know the severity of what can happen.”

Additionally, police go to the schools to observe the lockdown drills. “Then we critique them,” he said. “It’s a new world out there. We have to be sure the schools are safe.”

One woman asked if it was safe to go to TR Park at night. She said she worried that people were using drugs and drinking there. “If you see kids drinking there or being loud, we can address that,” McCaffrey said. “The number one problem there is drinking and dogs.” He added that Public Safety officers have not responded to any reports of rapes or robberies there.

Eileen McCartney, a 22-year resident of Oyster Bay is also the nurse at Vernon. She said she found the meeting useful. “I feel safe,” she said. “The meeting was excellent, comprehensive, and gave us more information.”

Fran Lenore, who has lived in Oyster Bay for 43 years, said she was glad she came to the meeting. “Oyster Bay is a beautiful community, and most of the time it’s safe,” she said. But people need to lock their doors. I’m surprised they don’t.”