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 Babylon Village, with residential burglaries down in October compared with the previous month. Babylon Village reported in with one residential burglary and no commercial burglaries.

West Babylon, however, bucked the trend with more residential burglaries this past month – five – than the month before, which only saw three. A single commercial burglary was also reported in the hamlet.

The precinct itself recorded only four total commercial burglaries for the entire month. Officers called that number an "extreme low" for Babylon Town.

Three cars were stolen in Babylon Village during October, up from one during the month before. West Babylon also reported one stolen vehicle and one robbery during October.

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.