Nassau County Police reported a nearly 6.5% drop in total major crimes in the first 11 months of 2023, which County Executive Bruce Blakeman is attributing to his administration’s support of the police force.
Blakeman ran his 2021 election campaign on a platform that included calls for addressing the rise in crime in the county.
His calls specifically targeted the state’s bail reform laws, which he previously had blamed for the 75% surge in major crime Nassau County saw in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year during an interview with Blank Slate Media.
Those same calls for public safety initiatives in response to rising crimes carried into the 2023 election campaigns, with both Republican and Democratic candidates citing a need to address the safety concerns of residents.
A mailer sent by Blakeman’s office touted the county’s reductions in crime “even with Cashless Bail Laws and the National Border Crisis [sic]” which have been consistently referenced as driving factors for greater crime.
Blakeman attributed the drop in crimes to his administration’s financial investments in the county police department and intelligence-led policing strategies in the mailer.
The county executive also touted his program Operation Overwatch in the mailer, which is a county policing tactic that deploys a five-car patrol unit to drive throughout the county. He said this deters crime and can be a “cavalry” in responding to criminal activity.
Nassau County Police crime statistics provided to Blank Slate Media only include the first 11 months of both 2022 for 2023 comparison. The data also reflects the reported crimes overall in the county and is not broken down by precincts.
From Jan. 1, 2023 through Nov. 30, 6,253 major crimes were reported in the county. This was a 6.46% reduction in total major crimes compared to 2022 when 6,685, or 432 more crimes, were reported.
The drop in major crimes in 2023 followed a 41% spike in major crimes in 2022 which contributed to a 38% increase from 2019-2022.
Neighboring Suffolk County experienced a lesser 15% increase in major crimes in 2022 and New York City reported a 22% spike.
Data on Suffolk County’s total reported major crimes in 2023 was not immediately available.
According to Newsday, Suffolk County also reported drops in its major crimes. This included a 4% decrease in reported vehicle thefts, but a 4% increase in larcenies.
New York City reported a drop in its major crimes in 2023 as well, reporting 409 fewer crimes than in 2022. This included a 24.7% decrease in shootings, an 11.9% decrease in murders and a 10.5% in rapes.
Major crimes are broken down into 11 categories: murder, rape, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, commercial robberies, other robberies, felony assault, residential burglary, other burglaries, stolen vehicles and grand larceny.
A majority of the crime categories had reductions in the reported crimes in 2023.
Of the 11 crime categories, only reported rapes remained the same at seven cases while three categories saw rises in crimes and the other seven had reductions.
The number of murders reported in Nassau County last year remained the same as in 2022, with six reported in total.
The categories that saw increases in reported crimes in 2023 were criminal sexual acts, felony assault and other burglaries.
In 2023, three cases of criminal sexual acts were reported – just one more than what was reported in 2022. This constitutes a 50% increase.
Felony assault rose by 5.29% in 2023, with 458 cases reported in the first 11 months of 2023. During the same period in 2022, 435 cases of felony assault were reported.
Other burglaries increased by 30.97% in the first 11 months of 2023. This constituted 118 more of these crimes reported in 2023 than during the same period in 2022.
The five categories that had reductions in reported crimes in 2023 were rape, sexual abuse, commercial robberies, other robberies, residential burglaries, stolen vehicles and grand larceny.
In 2023, seven rapes were reported in the county. This was a 30% drop from 2022 when 10 cases were reported.
Sexual abuse dropped by 30% in 2023, with the same number of cases reported in 2023 and 2022 as rape cases. Seven rape cases were reported in 2023, and 10 had been reported the year prior.
Rape is defined as nonconsensual or forcible sexual intercourse while sexual abuse refers to various forms of sexual contact that is nonconsensual or forced.
It is unclear whether or not the data for reported rapes and sexual abuse are the same, and efforts to clarify the data were unavailing.
Commercial robberies fell by 13.47% in 2023, with 167 cases reported in 2023. This was 26 fewer than the 193 reported during the same 11-month period in 2022.
Other robberies reported in 2023 also decreased by 7.69%. In 2022, 221 cases were reported which then fell to 204 in 2023.
In the first 11 months of 2023, 329 residential burglaries were reported in the county. This was a 16.28% drop from the same period in 2022, when 393 residential burglaries were reported.
Reported stolen vehicles dropped by 17.97% in 2023, with 907 reported in 2022 and then 744 reported in 2023.
Grand larcenies, the highest reported major crime in the county, fell by 7.22% in 2022. In the first 11 months of 2023, 3,829 grand larcenies were reported while 4,127 had been reported during the same time frame in 2022.
While the first 11 months show a 6.5% drop in major crimes in 2023, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told the residents of Flower Hill at a January meeting that major crimes had dropped by 8% overall in 2023.
At the Flower Hill meeting, Ryder denounced bail reform laws and laws raising the age of adults committing crimes from 16 to 18, citing them as influences for greater crime and diminishing the punishment for crimes.
He said while Nassau County does not have a migrant issue, he attributed some of the crimes to the influx of migrants coming into New York City and neighboring Queens.
