Park Slope Sees 'Serious' Spike In Commercial Burglaries: Data

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Police and local officials are urging Park Slope businesses to be on the look out given a "serious" spike in commercial burglaries spreading through the neighborhood.

The Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and officers from the 78th Precinct teamed up late last week to visit businesses on the corridor, which has been the site of several commercial burglaries in recent weeks.

In all, there have been about 30 burglaries at Park Slope businesses in the last two months, according to the BID.

"...This is a very specific, serious issue we are trying to address,"BID Executive Director Mark Caserta told Patch.

A dozen of those commercial burglaries have happened within the last month, including six on Fifth Avenue, according to NYPD stats, which include data up until Sunday.

Along with seven residential burglaries during that time period, that is double the number of burglaries that happened during the same period last year, data shows. In all of 2021, there have been 103 burglaries in the precinct, a 10 percent spike from the year before.

Caserta said many of the recent burglaries on Fifth Avenue have been at businesses without roll gates.

In their visits, he and the NYPD officers spoke with businesses about security tips that can prevent the break-ins, including commercial-grade door locks and surveillance cameras.

And it appears Fifth Avenue isn't the only corridor experiencing the spike.

The most recent burglaries include three within a three-block stretch of Eighth Avenue that occurred between Thursday and Sunday last week.

Police have released surveillance video of a suspect in one of those burglaries, which unfolded around 3:15 a.m. at a restaurant near 11th Street. The suspect used an object to break the front door and got away with $300 from the cash register, police said.

Anyone with information about that specific burglary is asked to call Officer Errol Thomas at (718) 636-6485 or the Brooklyn Borough South Detective Bureau at (718) 287-3239.

A full list of tips for businesses can be found on the NYPD's Crime Prevention page.