Hewlett Harbor declares war on burglaries

In response to an intermittent but ongoing burglary pattern throughout the Five Towns, the Village of Hewlett Harbor is proactively trying to prevent such crimes from occurring in its neighborhoods.

The latest effort in Hewlett Harbor's self proclaimed "war on burglaries" is trying to utilize an aggressive in-patrol-car license plate reader program that has been used throughout the 4th Precinct the last two years. The license plate reader utilizes cameras mounted on marked and unmarked Nassau County police cars that read the license plate numbers of automobiles that are parked or are in motion throughout the village. The plate numbers are maintained in the police department’s computer system and can be pulled and searched in the event of a burglary or other crime in the area.

"Deterring crime is going to have to result from a coordinated and systematic approach that must involve a close working relationship between the village and the police department, and the use of every resource the police and the village can muster," said Mayor Mark Weiss.

About two years ago when several homes in and around Hewlett Harbor were burglarized, Weiss began to implement certain security measures to help stop the crime wave. The village brought in a paid security patrol as additional eyes and ears for the police, started up an out-bound, computerized phone-based incident notification and early alert system for residents, in addition to holding a series of public meetings with the Nassau County police commissioner and the commanding officer of the Forth Precinct.

“We were very much out in front of the situation some two years ago when several homes in and around our village were burglarized,” said Weiss.

The 4th Precinct has tried utilizing the license plate reader device in other areas of the Five Towns the department covers for the past two years. The 4th Precinct covers the Five Towns, East Rockaway, Oceanside, Island Park, Point Lookout, Lido Beach and South Lynbrook.

"They have gotten some pretty good arrests out of [the license plate reader]," said Inspector Christopher Cleary, commanding officer for the 4th Precinct. "It is a pretty sound tool."

The 4th Precinct currently has one patrol car for the license plate reader program and is hoping to get a second in the near future, said Police Officer Marc Merckling, who works in the department's Problems Oriented Policing unit. The system is designed to run up to 1,000 license plates an hour.

"It is a great tool if we're getting hit with burglaries in a certain area," said Officer Merckling.

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