Police officials: Coronavirus spurs decline in crime on LI

Crime on Long Island has decreased dramatically since early March amid the coronavirus crisis, according to police statistics, as large swaths of the public have stayed home and practiced social distancing.

Nassau County has seen major crime, which includes felony assaults and robberies, drop about 45% since the beginning of March, according to police figures. Suffolk’s violent crime numbers have fallen 29% during roughly the same time period, statistics show.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart attributed the falling crime numbers to government directives for the public to stay at home in an effort to stop the spread of the global pandemic. 

"We're seeing a major reduction in crime since the stay-at-home order was put in place," Hart said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. "People are staying home. It just really takes away the opportunity. There aren't as many people on the street, so there are fewer targets of crime."

In Suffolk, police recorded 86 violent crimes in the week ending March 15, according to department statistics. As coronavirus cases escalated on Long Island, that number dropped to 61 for the week ending March 29 — a 29.1% decrease over three weeks, according to department statistics. Those numbers include robbery, burglary, felony assault and grand larceny. 

During that same time period, felony assaults fell from 10 to zero and burglaries from 20 to 14, a 30% decrease, grand larcenies from 33 to 27, an 18.2% decline, and auto larcenies from 18 to 11, a 38.9% drop. 

In Nassau, police took 118 major crimes reports from March 3 to March 9. Nassau classifies robbery, burglary and stolen vehicles, among other offenses, as major crime. By the week ending March 24, that number fell to just 64 — a 45.7% decrease, according to department statistics. 

The number of residential burglaries in the week ending March 9 was eight, and had dropped to just one in the week ending March 24, an 87.5 percent drop, department statistics show. During that same time period, the number of grand larceny reports fell from 70 to 40, a 42.8% drop, and the number of stolen vehicles fell from 11 to six, a 45.4% decrease, according to the statistics.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder likened the coronavirus effect on crime to the typical downturns seen during weather events like snowstorms. But unlike a few days' lull with a huge storm, coronavirus will have a much lengthier impact as stay-at-home orders last several weeks or even months.

"The snowstorm's a blizzard right now and the criminals are staying in, dropping crime like crazy," Ryder said in a Wednesday afternoon phone interview. 

On March 10, before government officials directed people to stay at home to stop the spread of coronavirus, Nassau police arrested 47 suspects, Ryder said. On Tuesday, the department made just 11 arrests. 

The NYPD also reported last week a 41% decrease in felonies attributed to the coronavirus.

Before the coronavirus spiked on Long Island, crime in general, however, was up when compared to statistics at the same time last year, which police officials attribute to criminal justice reforms that took effect in January. 

The coronavirus crime declines on Long Island follow increases in crime in the first two months of this year, which police officials say is a consequence of new laws that eliminated bail on most nonviolent offenses. Many in the law enforcement community say bail reform has allowed offenders to commit repeated crimes and therefore drive up crime numbers. 

Before the virus hit, Ryder said, the department was up 18% in major crimes as of March 10 over the same period last year. Now, that number is just 6.6%, Ryder said, an 11.5% drop in 21 days. 

In February, Suffolk saw its property crimes increase from the previous year by 16.7% while its violent crime increased 13.2%, according to department statistics.

The virus has hit the ranks of both departments. As of Wednesday morning, 91 members of the Nassau Police Department had tested positive for COVID-19 — 78 sworn members and 13 civilians, Ryder said. In the Suffolk County Police Department, 45 department employees had tested positive — 39 officers and six civilian employees — as of Wednesday morning, Hart said.

So far, both commissioners said they have been able to compensate for the absences and the illness has not yet affected the departments' ability to police.

Hart said the department is closely monitoring the potential of Suffolk residents being targeted by online scams connected to COVID-19, noting "we know that criminals adapt."

The department hasn't received any reports of coronavirus-related scams. The FBI has alerted police to some scams, including victims receiving a fake CDC email that puts malware on your computer and other solicitations connected to receiving a check from the economic stimulus check passed by Congress, Hart said, adding that neither entity would contact you via email nor ask for any personal or financial information.

Ryder said his department is similarly watching for scam crimes and is looking into what investigators believe was a coronavirus scam call to an elderly county resident, with someone claiming to be from the health department and asking for the victim's name and social security number.

The commissioners said their officers are continuing to be proactive and are doing extra patrols of closed businesses.

"I'd rather have crime than corona," Ryder said. "But if I can get something positive out of this thing, the bad guys are playing by the rules when it comes to corona."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.