Violent crimes like rape, robbery and aggravated assault are happening less frequently this year on Long Island than they did in 2009, according to data from the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services.
But both Nassau and Suffolk Counties have seen an increase this year in property theft and home burglaries.
“We do have an uptick in property crimes, burglary in particular,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, who said it’s a problem in Nassau County as well. “It’s tied to the drug trade. People need money for drugs, and we’ve seen an uptick in the drug problem all over New York.”
Just this week Dormer said he organized an emergency summit of law enforcement officials on how to combat burglaries.
“We’re not ignoring it,” he said. “And when we do catch people we often find they’ve committed a number of burglaries, not just one.”
Violent crime is decreasing statewide, except in New York City, which has seen more robberies, rapes and murders this year than last.
Murders on the island have increased but the numbers remain small for the first half of 2010 – 18 in Nassau County this year compared to 17 in 2009 and 16 this year in Suffolk County compared to 12 in 2009.
Violent crime in Suffolk County is down 4 percent this year than last, according to Dormer, and overall crime is down almost 20 percent since 2004.
Violent crime by the numbers
Rape
Nassau County, 2010: 37
Suffolk County, 2010: 36
Robbery
Nassau County, 2009: 524
Nassau County, 2010: 475
Murder
Nassau County, 2010 vs. 2009
+5.9%
Suffolk County, 2010 vs. 2009
+33.3%
Aggravated assault
Suffolk County, 2009: 758
Suffolk County, 2010: 665
Robbery
Suffolk County, 2009: 445
Suffolk County, 2010: 416
SOURCE: NYPD
