Here are the significant January 2025 statistics for the 1st Precinct, which held its community meeting on February 6, 2025:

• 375 arrests
• 7 commercial burglaries, 3 in Copiague
• 4 residential burglaries
• 7 robberies
• 469 car crashes, with 55 leaving the scene
• 13 motor vehicle thefts, 5 in Wyandanch
• 2 shootings

Inspector Brendan Forte, the 1st Precinct Commanding Officer, introduced Community Liaison officers Nick Schieda, Luke Denatov, and Dara Caramanico-Broyles, who jointly conducted the meeting. 

We were reminded not to leave keys in the car or the engine running. The car may be gone, or valuables left in plain sight may be missing.

The officers said they attend many civic organization meetings monthly to discuss community concerns.

We were told that 125 youngsters were treated to a holiday visit at a shopping center and allowed to pick out free gifts.

It was also announced that crime was down 40% in the county for last year.

The next community meeting will be on March 6, 2025, at 12 noon at the Lindenhurst Public Library. All residents are welcome.

Justin Cooper
1st Precinct Coordinator

Thanks to Beth Santagata

In attendance representing SCCPAAA was Lou Giudice.

December 2024 had 662 crimes, down from 668 last year for the same period.
Therefore, compared to last year, crime decreased by 0.9% for the month of December.
These crimes included:

• 0 Homicide
• 15 Aggravated Assaults
• 5 Burglaries (2 Residential, 3 Commercial)
• 4 Robberies
• 6 Grand Larcenies Auto
• 0 Trigger Pulls (0 Victim Shot) out of 6 recorded gun crimes
• compared to December2023, when we had 1 Trigger Pull (0 Victims Shot) out of 3 recorded gun crimes

There were 209 arrests on 290 charges in December including:

• 13 Assaults
• 3 Burglaries
• 25 Drugs
• 6 Robberies

December had 6 drug overdoses with 4 fatalities,
compared with December 2023 with 25 overdoses and 1 fatality.

December had 655 motor vehicle crashes compared to December 2023 with 678 crashes, down 3.4%.

• 2 SPI 1 fatal
• 82 leaving the scene
• 6 DWI related

There were 25 arrests for DWI with 25 charges.

Officers wrote 1804 tickets.
Highway Bureau SITE Unit issued 115 additional tickets.

Reported by Lou Giudice

3rd Police Precinct Meeting opened at 7:00pm on Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Next meeting is Tuesday, February 4, 7:00pm at the Brentwood Library

Meeting was well attended (approximately 75 people)

A Precinct Level Advisory Board (PLAB) meeting was conducted prior to the regular meeting.  The meeting was led by Captain Teplansky.  The group meets every quarter and the public is invited to attend and listen.

Inspector Maronski led the meeting with input as necessary from his Staff and other Officers

They requested that we keep Police Officer Brendon Gallagher in our prayers

-He reviewed the November events:

Coffee with a Cop at El Paisita Bakery

Pine Park Elementary School w/K9

Thanksgiving Food giveaways

Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Thanksgiving meal at River of Life Church

-He reviewed the December events since we did not have a meeting:

2 Shop with a Cop events

2 “Toys for Tots” events

Parranda with Puerto Rican Coalition

Toy Giveaways at Brentwood and Central Islip Schools

Three Kings with Puerto Rican Coalition

-Comparison of 3rd Precinct Crime Stats ’24 and ’23 shows an overall decrease in crime

-A dispute at Copas Bar in Bay Shore resulted in the bar being closed by the Town of Islip (TOI)  and a hearing scheduled with NYS Liquor Authority

-A homeless man entered a home in West Islip and was arrested.  There appears to be an issue   and TOI, Good Samaritan Hospital and the residents are meeting to discuss this problem.

-2024 showed an increase of 64.3% in Traffic Summonses issued by 3rd Precinct Personnel

-There is a continuing problem with homelessness in TOI and Department of Social Services (DSS) now uses DASH (631-952-3333) and Long Island Coalition for the Homeless (631-464-4314 ext. 118) for outreach

-There will be an interfaith gathering on Sunday, January 12 from 3-5pm at the First Baptist church in Bay Shore to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

-There is still a need for School Crossing Guards.  This is a continuing issue which keeps Patrol

Officers tied up with this duty during the day in lieu of normal Police Patrol duties.

-The Contact Numbers and Media Sites were projected as usual

Questions and answers were next, and several topics were brought up:

Mini bikes on the neighborhood streets

Need for COPE to visit homes with autistic children to help them allay fears of the uniforms

Breakout discussion with individuals with issues they wanted to report and a group discussion with a contingent from West Islip on their homeless problem (Inspector Maronski reiterated that we cannot police our way out of the homeless, drugs and mental health issues we face.  There are other agencies who must get involved).

Thanks to JoAnn Kukenis

4^th precinct Inspector Regina ran the December meeting.

An instructor from the SCPD Emergency Medical Training Unit provided training to the community members attending on “Hands Only” CPR. It was an in-depth training session and we all learned a great deal. The lecture was very thorough and informative.

The Inspector then proceeded with the precinct meeting. He ran a PowerPoint presentation that showed among other things crime statistics in the precinct. He explained the trends for various crimes in the precinct.

In November once again the SITE team (which consists of highway patrol officers) assisted the precinct enforce traffic violations in certain areas. 79 moving violations and 7 non-moving violations were observed and 86 summonses were issued.

On 11-23-2024 4^th precinct units responded to a report of a fight at the Smith Haven Mall. It began as a fight inside the mall and then moved outside where a 16 year old was stabbed. The male was transported to Stony Brook Hospital for treatment. 4^th Squad detectives responded and are handling the investigation.

On 11-24-2024 4^th precinct units responded to a report of a stabbing at Gino’s Pizza in Nesconset. A 60 year old victim was transported to Stony Brook Hospital for treatment. Officers quickly took into custody the suspect, who was a fellow employee of the business.

On 11-29-2024 4^th precinct units responded to a report of youths fighting in the food court of the Smith Haven Mall. During the altercation a firearm fell out of the pocket of one of the subjects and slid across the floor. Officers immediately responded and the firearm was quickly recovered. A person of interest was later located at Dick’s Sporting Goods. He was ultimately charged by 4^th Squad Detectives with CPW in the 2^nd degree.

The next community meeting will be held on January 7th at the Smithtown Library Nesconset Building. The meeting begins at 7PM.

Thanks to Robert and Lauri Murphy