By Jeff Lipton
Overall, major crime jumped from 114 incidents in the six months from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2005, to 124 incidents for the same period in 2006. Major crime comprises murder, rape, robbery, burglary, felonious assault and auto theft.
Robbery plummeted 24 percent, from 29 incidents last year to 22 so far this year, and burglary dropped 8 percent, from 60 to 55 break-ins, the report showed.
But the overall increase was led by jumps in felony assault - from five to 16 incidents - and auto theft, which went up 63 percent, from 19 to 31 incidents.
Rape dropped from one incident to none, and there were no murders in either six-month period.
"I certainly look at it as some good news in this crime report," said Inspector Richard McCarrick, commanding officer of the 4th Precinct. "Our job is to see if a problem develops and to better focus on it."
McCarrick said the decreases in robbery and burglary were the results of strategic planning - deploying officers throughout the community to combat crime as patterns developed. The Five Towns "bucked the trend" of burglaries throughout the county, which increased, McCarrick said. He explained that officers provide on-site inspections for new businesses in the Five Towns, and suggest to owners how to secure their shops.
McCarrick added, however, that the increases in felony assaults and auto thefts were troubling to him. He said that nine of the 16 assaults ended in arrests.
McCarrick said that police managed to reduce the number of store robberies by assigning officers to walk beats around the shopping area, establishing a visible presence. Street robberies are more random and harder to predict, he said.
"A decent amount of the robberies have been closed out by arrest," McCarrick said. "The trick is to get the repeat [offenders] who are doing it. Our investigations then pick up more information, and it's more likely that we catch the person doing these."
Police made a sizable dent in the number of burglaries after they halted a pattern of break-ins in Hewlett Harbor from the end of April to early June. Several homes were burglarized during that period, prompting police officials to flood the neighborhood with uniformed and undercover officers, cops on bikes and even the K-9 unit. There have been no burglaries in that community for about a month now, McCarrick said, adding that the extra manpower may well have driven the burglar or burglars from the community.
Hewlett Harbor residents have noticed a difference in police presence. "There has been a bigger police activity in the area, more than ever before," said a resident of Harbor Road who declined to be identified. "I do feel safer. I'm around here all the time."
Another resident added, "I haven't got a problem with the police protection in the area. You could live in the Lower East Side [of Manhattan] and get robbed. I don't concern myself with my own safety or with my own possessions."
McCarrick said he was bothered by the 63 percent rise in stolen autos, adding that in many cases, car owners were leaving their vehicles unlocked with their keys in the ignition, making them easy targets for car thieves. "These cars are then being used [by thieves] for transportation to get from one place to another at night," McCarrick said. "We are making all of our officers aware of the problem."
He said that drivers can help themselves by locking car doors and taking keys with them. "With the stolen autos, we need help from the public to secure their vehicle," he said. He added that drivers should remove all valuables from their cars as well.
In addition, McCarrick said, some of the stolen car cases may involve insurance fraud, in which the car is reported stolen so that the owner can collect on the insurance money.
He said the substantial jump in felony assaults also worried him, and he explained that many of the assaults occur outside bars or are domestic violence. About 15 suspects have been arrested in the 16 assault cases thus far this year, McCarrick said.
The 4th Precinct, which covers the Five Towns, Oceanside, Island Park, East Rockaway, Lido Beach and Point Lookout, has 163 police officers, which, according to McCarrick, is 10 more than last year, because a class of recruits recently graduated from the Police Academy.
"The police commissioner is looking to put more of a uniformed presence on the streets," McCarrick said.
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.
