Stats: Homicides, car thefts increased on LI in 2020

Homicides and motor vehicle thefts increased on Long Island in 2020 but total crime dipped, Nassau and Suffolk police department statistics show.

Long Island’s two largest police agencies recorded a total of 44 homicides in 2020 -- 14 in Nassau and 30 in Suffolk -- up from 33 homicides the previous year, when Nassau had nine and Suffolk had 24.

Motor vehicle thefts in Nassau jumped from 456 to 587. In Suffolk, motor vehicle thefts surged from 771 in 2019 to 1,160 in 2020.

Total crimes, led by a sharp drop in grand larcenies, fell 7.16% in Nassau, from 5,248 in 2019 to 4,965 last year. In Suffolk, a steep decline in sex crimes helped reduce total crime by 0.3%.Violent crime fell 6% in Suffolk last year, from 1,253 in 2019 to 1,177 in 2020, while property crimes rose .1%, from 14,910 in 2019 to 14,981 last year.

Long Island’s largest police departments faced challenges in 2020, Suffolk commissioner Geraldine Hart and Nassau commissioner Patrick Ryder said, including the coronavirus pandemic and demands for sweeping police reforms after the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police last spring.

The departments began 2020 making adjustments required by the bail and discovery laws passed by the State Legislature that went into effect on New Year’s Day that eliminated bail for some defendants and sped up the time law enforcement has to provide defense attorneys with evidence.

Nassau and Suffolk police officials also spent the early months of 2020 preparing for the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 6,000 lives on Long Island.

"Twenty-twenty," Hart said, "was certainly a year like no other."

The departments monitored hundreds of protests — Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, pro-President Trump, anti-President Trump — last year, Ryder and Hart said.

"We were very fortunate to have close to 300 protests in the county, and no violence or criminal mischief," Ryder said.

Last year’s increase in homicides, Hart said, mirrors the nationwide rise and was sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down courts and limited access to substance-abuse counselors, mental health providers, pre-trial diversion services and other resources.

Many of Suffolk County’s homicides, Hart added, were domestic-violence related. Victim advocates have said domestic violence may be increasing because of the stresses and unavailability of services because the lockdown.

"It just really exemplifies that it is a partnership with all of us and COVID has certainly made it challenging for some of those pieces of the puzzle to be in place," Hart said.

Ryder noted that Nassau County has recorded historically low murder rates in the last five years. Nassau recorded 11 homicides in 2018, nine in 2017 and 12 in 2016.

"Since we were so low sometimes there is nowhere to go but up," he said.

Motor vehicle thefts jumped last year, both commissioners said, because many residents spent much of the pandemic working at home -- and left their vehicles unlocked and their keys or fobs in their cars.

"That is the number one reason our cars are stolen," Ryder said. "People are leaving their keys in the car, or their fobs."

Rape reports in Suffolk last year fell from 53 in 2019 to 38; 107 other sex crimes were reported in the county in 2020, down from 159 the previous year. Assaults dropped from 735 in 2019 to 710.

Hart attributed the decline in rapes and assaults to the closures of nightlife establishments caused by the pandemic.

"Businesses were closed and commercial establishments were closed and people just weren’t interacting," Hart said.

Assaults rose in Nassau, from 364 in 2019 to 396 last year. Rapes ticked up, from 10 to 12, statistics show.

Grand larceny — defined by New York State law as the theft of property worth more than $1,000 — dropped nearly 20% in Nassau last year, Ryder said, with 3,579 in 2019 to 2,864 in 2020.

Suffolk saw larcenies drop from 13,220 in 2019 to 12,777 in 2020, a 3.4% decrease.

"With the malls and the stores all being closed for a significant period, that drove that number down," Ryder said. "That is why we had a drastic reduction in our grand larcenies. As malls open up, you’ll see that number climb."

Suffolk, which does not differentiate between residential and commercial burglaries, reported total burglaries jumped from 900 in 2019 to 973 in 2020, an 8.1% increase.

The pandemic was responsible for Nassau’s nearly 10% drop in residential burglaries from 305 in 2019 to 275 last year, Ryder said. With more people working at home or unemployed, criminals had fewer opportunities. He blamed the pandemic for the 63% jump in commercial burglaries, which increased from 288 in 2019 to 470 in 2020.

"I’m not at my business so people are going to take advantage," Ryder said. "But there wasn’t much to steal. There wasn’t much cash at hand."