First Precinct Reports Burglaries, Robberies Down for Year

Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department First Precinct reported some good news for the Town of Babylon during their most recent community meeting – burglaries, robberies and shootings are down compared to this time last year.

Burglaries were down nearly by nearly 100 from 532 as of October 31, 2012 to 437 on the same day this year, a drop of 15.4 percent. Similarly, robberies have dropped by 25 this time last year from 182 to 157, or a change of -13.7 percent.

While much less common than the other crimes, shootings had also fallen throughout the Town of Babylon, which is covered by the department's First Precinct. 2012 saw 25 shootings total through the end of the year while 2013 had only seen 15 through the end of October.

Officers at the monthly community meeting credited vigilant residents and fellow officer's work for helping to lower the number of reported crimes in the area.

The past month also saw a similar trend in Lindenhurst, with residential burglaries down in October compared with the previous month. Lindenhurst reported in with two residential burglaries while North Lindenhurst had only one residential burglary the whole month.

The two areas combined to account for 10 percent of the area's residential break-ins in October.

Commercial break-ins hit the absolute low of zero in both areas, while the precinct itself recorded only four total for the entire month. Officers called that latter number an "extreme low" for Babylon Town.

Three cars were stolen and one robbery was committed in Lindenhurst during October, up from none in both categories the month before. North Lindenhurst recorded none in either crime.

First Precinct officers reported a total of 760 arrests during the month, up slightly from 710 in September. That number included 117 arrested for possession of a controlled substance and 89 possession of marijuana charges.

The precinct will hold their next public community meeting at the West Babylon Public Library on Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m. All concerned residents are urged to come and speak to officers.