The Village of East Williston Board of Trustees held a community forum last week on recent burglaries in the village, where two Nassau County police officers addressed a packed village board room with concerned residents.
Officer Todd Atkin with the Third Precinct POP Unit (Problem Oriented Policing) and Sergeant Daniel Ciaccio with the Third Precinct, which patrols East Williston, both spoke about preventive measures residents can take, and their value in conducting investigations. Atkin addressed the village board last month as well about burglaries.
“Residents and community members are our best weapon,” Atkin said. “If you see or hear something, and you’re not certain whether you should call 911—call 911—you’re not bothering us, this is our job.”
Providing some statistics, Atkin said East Williston had five burglaries in 2014, six in 2015 with one arrest made, and four so far this year with one arrest so far. The officers mainly addressed two recent burglaries in the past week on Feather Lane and Wheatley Avenue. Another burglary discussed took place on Donald Street, which intersects with Feather Lane.
“The good news is we have some very good information, and we’re confident we’re going to make an arrest on each one,” Ciaccio said. He mentioned that the burglary on Feather Lane happened at 11:30 a.m., and that it’s possibly tied to an ongoing pattern.
Atkin said that burglaries are on the rise nationwide, with one taking place every 14 or 15 seconds. He also mentioned that nearby New Hyde Park had a burglary issue for a few years, primarily due to “excellent egress” to New York City, and that a neighbor’s alert to the police helped close numerous cases.
“A neighbor told us that a car didn’t belong in a certain driveway, which led to us catching the mastermind of it all. We closed out over 20 cases,” Atkin said.
Atkin also cautioned that even if evidence such as fingerprints is collected, sometimes it can take six to nine months to come back with information. He also said that if residents call the precinct about something that looks suspicious or an emergency, it’s a longer process to properly connect the call.
One resident who spoke said he has been burglarized twice in the village within four years, saying the first time he didn’t have a security alarm, and the second time was after he installed a system. The robbery was caught on the video camera the resident had installed. Another resident encouraged everyone in the village to keep an eye on the East Williston Moms Facebook group, which spreads concerns and news within the village.
Numerous residents addressed the village board on increasing security, as well as communication with the community as well as the police department.
Village Mayor David Tanner said the village is considering the installation of LPRs (License Plate Readers), other cameras in the village, community watch signs and increasing use of email blast communications.
“Among these items is also the creation of a committee,” Tanner said. “We’re going to be in contact with Nassau County officials and do everything we can to secure our village.”
Trustee James Iannone said the village board now has to figure out what the cost of those upgrades will be, among other factors.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily practical to put a camera on every street, but there a couple of places we can go through and take a look at,” Iannone said.
In protecting homes, both officers made suggestions such as timers hooked up to lamps that switch on and off randomly to give the appearance of someone being home, installing video cameras, leaving a television or radio on, outdoor sensory lights, home security systems and having a dog in the house.
“I’ve worked some really bad areas, and I’ve seen a lot of burglaries, and I have never been to a burglary where there was a dog,” Ciaccio said.
Another suggestion strongly made was to not write on social media sites about being away from home for any period of time.
“In today’s world of technology, if you advertise you’re going away, that makes you more of a target,” Atkin said. “You have to think like a burglar and think of ways they could find a way into your house and get ahold of your valuables.”
