Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale addresses residents and civic leaders about a rash of burglaries in and around the Richmond Hill area. He is joined by Sgt. Ryan Kenny, a Crime Prevention officer.
Police at the 106th Precinct called a special meeting to address a rash of robberies plaguing the Richmond Hill area in particular, with several incidents also in Howard Beach.
Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale told those in attendance that he had called the meeting to make the communities aware of the severity of the situation and also to offer them any assistance he could in terms of supplying advice and vital information about crime prevention.
The inspector identified a sector in his precinct from Liberty Avenue down to the North Conduit from 125th Street going east as an area having an increase in burglaries. In response to that issue the Pascale explained that what police do is to analyze the crime on many different levels. “We look at the day of the week, the time and we develop patterns to see that certain crimes are happening at certain times in an area,” Pascale explained “and then we take our assets and our resources and put them on top of these times and places like pins on a map.”
Pascale said that when burglaries are reported it often takes officers responding up to two hours to complete the incident report because they consider burglary to be a very serious crime and they want to detail the event as much as possible. In that way, police learn from it and can then generate commonalities in the crimes being reported.
They look for video surveillance, knock on neighbors doors and get a detailed description of any property that has beenremoved. Much sought after information are serial numbers off electronics and descriptive features of jewelry. “We really task our cops to write good detailed reports because it helps us to track the property down at pawn shops and second hand dealers.”
Pascale said part of the problem in making apprehension on occasion is the failure of victims to report the crime immediately. “I would hope,” the inspector said, “that people would start to realize that every minute you don’t report the crime, we move farther away from the possibility of making a fast arrest.”
As far as those committing the crimes, police say that they typically work in a thee man crew who will arrive at the intended burglary site in a rental car or a stolen car.
“If you see three guys in a brand new Chevy Impala or a brand new Altima—they are probably up to no good.”
According to police, a typical scenario is that one of the men would go up to a door and knock on it. If no one answers, they are good to go about their business and rob the house, but if someone does come to the door they might say something like ‘Hi, I’m looking for Joey’ when the person says that there is no Joe there, they typically just say they are sorry and move along.
The inspector along with a crime prevention team encouraged those in attendance to try and take steps to protect themselves and their valuables by installing safes that bolt into the floor or putting excess valuables in safe deposit boxes at the bank and withdrawing them when you need to.
Finally, Sgt. Ryan Kenny made advisements in relation to crime prevention, passed out literature and encouraged those in attendance to spread the word in the community to get residents to sign up for the departments crime prevention survey which has an officer come to the house and makes recommendations about securing your property.
By Patricia Adams
