After some local concern expressed about a “drastic” increase in crime in the Roslyn Country Club neighborhood, and a quasi-reestablishment of the Civic Association to fund a local patrol, there was a lack of actual data regarding this “drastic” increase in crime. Other than one local news report where a group stole a Canada Goose jacket from an unlocked car and quickly detained, there wasn’t much to go on but word of mouth. RoslynCountryClub.org requested the blue-collar crime data related to auto thefts from the Nassau County Police Department.
These are the results they provided:
| STOLEN CARS | UNLOCKED W/ KEYS LEFT INSIDE | BURGLARY & STOLEN CAR | TOTAL STOLEN AUTO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 2022 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 18 |
| 2023 (January) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 28 | 26 | 2 | 30 |
| Make of Vehicle | # Stolen |
|---|---|
| BMW | 9 |
| MERCEDES-BENZ | 5 |
| LAND/RANGE ROVER | 3 |
| LEXUS | 2 |
| ALFA ROMEO | 2 |
| AUDI | 2 |
| PORSCHE | 2 |
| CADILLAC | 1 |
| MASERATI | 1 |
| ACURA | 1 |
| TOYOTA | 1 |
| HONDA | 1 |
As it turns out, the vast majority of stolen cars are the result of the cars being unlocked with the keys left inside. This appears to have created a welcoming environment for thieves to acquire BMWs and Mercedes Benz. It inspiring some to look into windows to look for keys resulting in two burglaries. By creating such an environment, that trend has increased throughout this past year.
Would patrol vehicles help prevent this? Most familiar with the effectiveness of private patrols cars seem lukewarm, at best. Perhaps there is a chance that would be a deterrent. But with more than 10 miles of streets in the Roslyn Country Club neighborhood, it seems unlikely one or two patrol cars would be a significant deterrent.
Privately monitored security surveillance systems costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to install, with ongoing costs. Would this help? Maybe, but without forming a village to ensure tax revenue, raising the money and keeping it funded would be a massive undertaking that seems unlikely to be sustainable.
Perhaps a community networked surveillance camera system would provide us the ability to monitor those in the neighborhood to look out for those checking for unlocked door handles. But this would require someone to be up and watching the cameras in these early morning hours. With 700 houses with around 3000 residents, there is no doubt some in the neighborhood are awake, but would they volunteer to watch security cameras or respond to notifications? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
But is catching a few criminals better than using common sense to protect valuable property?
Maybe we could create a community patrol to walk around the neighborhood and check that luxury cars are locked. We could provide jackets or vests to signify they are community patrol as to not worry residents.
If all the cars were locked and keys are not left visible from front windows — if we take on the responsibility ourselves to keep our property secure — it seems likely that the thieves would eventually move on and go to other neighborhoods that are less united in our mutual desire for a safe neighborhood.