Hewlett Harbor Presses for Police Presence

Hewlett Harbor officials their push for more police presence in the village in light of a recent burglary, but instead were greeted by the realities of cutbacks by Nassau County.

“The budgets are cut. You’re not guaranteed a patrol as you used to be,” Sgt. Kevin Burke of the told the board of trustees at its meeting last Thursday. “I walked a foot post in the city. Around here, it’s not realistic.”

While the third burglary of a house on Adams Lane within two years had the trustees on edge, they also expressed concern about the spate of car break-ins in the Five Towns and the ongoing Hewlett Harbor issue of groups of young people converging on nearby roads and houses.

“We can’t expect patrols — we can expect a response,” said Mayor Mark Weiss, summarizing the night’s discussion. “The reality is, we know right now that this is when it gets crazy in the community. We don’t want to be penalized because we’re a quote-unquote inactive community.”

Burke said that a squad car is assigned to patrol Hewlett Harbor, but it’s possible that as soon as the officer starts his shift, he can get called to another location. In some cases, there may be days without any patrol at all. Burke also pointed out that about 90 percent of the recent car break-ins were on unlocked vehicles.

“It’s a crime of opportunity,” he said. “Bottom line: Lock the cars and the problem disappears.”

But this point brought the trustees back to their original argument: a squad car coming down the streets on a regular basis would deter potential criminals.

“You stick out like a sore thumb when you walk down a driveway, go to a car and take something,” said Trustee Kenneth Kornblatt. “People who are intending not to do well would find less opportunity if your colleagues are rolling down the street.”