As I’ve mentioned in past posts on the village app, our department continually monitors relevant criminal activity in other areas of Nassau County and New York State to identify patterns of activity that may affect our village. Currently we are seeing increased activity related to both residential burglaries and car thefts. Burglaries appear to involve both the pattern burglary group as well as individuals who are attempting to obtain automobile key fobs in order to steal cars from residential homes. While it is always a good practice to follow the safety tips listed below, it is especially important to do so now during a period of increased criminal activity.
To reduce the odds of being the victim of a residential burglary:
- Make your house look lived in and active by leaving lights on throughout the home. This is especially important from dusk until 10 pm when the pattern burglars are most active.
- Keep your alarm system armed, even when you are home. Pattern burglars will specifically target the primary bedroom in homes, often directly entering them from outside, even on the second floor. Burglaries have been committed when residents are home. Generally, burglars will leave without proceeds if the alarm is activated. An alarm activation may also alert family members to a break-in or attempted break-in if they are at home.
- Closely monitor any motion activations on cameras and immediately notify our department of anything suspicious. Also alert us to any suspicious activity or vehicles in the area.
- Keep valuables in safes and keep the safes locked.
- Keep all doors and windows in your home locked.
- Pattern burglars seem most active from dusk until 10 pm, especially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. They are not deterred by inclement weather and have struck during heavy rain.
Car thieves have also now been entering homes at night to steal key fobs. To reduce the odds of this occurring at your home, in addition to the above, please consider:
- Keep all cars locked with the key fobs removed.
- Keep cars inside garages.
- Keep key fobs out of sight within your home.
- If you subscribe to a vehicle tracking service, have your log in credentials readily available.
- Consider placing an Air Tag in your car and/or in any valuable items within your home.
Our department is also closely monitoring intelligence from law enforcement sources regarding the recent events in Israel. We will increase our visibility at various sites within the village to deter any criminal activity that may be related to the war in Israel. This is solely out of an abundance of caution, there is no credible intelligence indicating an attack will occur in this area, however it is important to always notify our department of any suspicious activity and to always be vigilant. We can be most effective in keeping the village safe if we work together.