NEW YORK — Increasing crowds may be making Long Island shoppers targets for crime this holiday season, and for communities already reeling from recent Costco mall and parking lot robberies, that reality is increasing even further more anxiety.
Fear not, more security is on the way, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Tuesday. He announced that more police officers would flood downtown county business and commercial areas during the holidays.
Bike patrols will come in handy in parking lots at popular commercial destinations, and the department’s resources will be used in a number of other obvious and less obvious ways to protect consumers, Harrison says.
The Park, Walk and Talk program will continue its community engagement efforts, officials say, and police officers have been trying to remind Long Islanders of their zero-tolerance policy for drivers under the influence.
These major law enforcement efforts come just four months after at least 10 Costco and Bed, Bath and Beyond shoppers were robbed in Suffolk County in so-called “hoax burglaries,” in which a scammer pretended to need help with addresses while the other was stealing from these victims in the parking lot.
It wasn’t immediately clear on Tuesday whether any arrests had been made in those cases.
The Suffolk County Police Department also shared holiday shopping safety tips, such as not leaving valuables in plain sight inside the car and avoiding shopping alone. Check out her full safety guide below, and get more vacation news here.
