Continued on

Crime stats show little rise after bail reform

Continued from Page 1

“We have to get serious about changing the laws so that we don’t give criminals more rights than victims,” Blakeman said. “Unfortunately, that’s the way it is now. We’ve got people committing crime after crime and judges are not given the discretion whether or not to hold these people and I think it’s a huge mistake.”

While judges throughout New York have the option to set bail in almost any case involving a violent felony, they may also release individuals in almost all other cases on their own recognizance or enact certain terms to make sure they ultimately return to court.

Blakeman signed an executive order in January shortly after taking ofce that cites a need to “increase transparency by disclosing in daily reports the pending criminal case data and bail status of those rearrested” by the Police Department.”

The county has yet to release those reports.

Eforts to reach Blakeman to discuss the 5-year trend were unavailing.

In the frst three months of 2022, the police department reported that major crimes increased by 75% compared to the frst three months of 2021.

In Nassau’s 3rd and 6th precincts, which make up a majority of North Shore communities, 645 major crimes occurred during the three-month span this year, compared to 333 last year, an increase of 93%.

The county has yet to release county crime statistics since March.

Statistics showed that 1,662 major crimes were committed throughout Nassau County from Jan. 1-March 31, up from 950 crimes during the same time frame last year.

From Jan. 1- Mar.ch 31 of this year, more than 300 stolen vehicle reports were fled to the county’s police department, a 255% increase from the same time frame last year, according

PHOTO BY NOAH MANSKAR

Major violent crimes throughout Nassau County increased by 16% from 2017-21, according to statistics submitted by the Nassau County Police Department.

to statistics.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said 75% of stolen cars throughout Nassau this year were done so by Newark residents. He said crime rings throughout Newark are sending younger individuals to steal cars since they will not be prosecuted as adults.

Ryder and former County Executive Laura Curran announced last July that major crimes throughout Nassau decreased by more than 10 percent from 2020, which refected a decadelong decline in major crimes throughout the county.

Nassau County spends $1,148 per capita on police and fre protection while the national median is $359, according to U.S. News & World Report fnding in 2020 that named Nassau County the safest community in America. Public safety professionals account for 1.26% of the county’s population, compared with the national median of 0.70%.

The county again received that distinction as the safest community in America from U.S. News & World report in 2021.

Total violent crimes increased by nearly 300 from 2017-2021, according to the statistics, growing from 1,650 reports in 2017 to 1,917 in 2021.

The largest increase in crimes from 2017 to 2021 was in rapes with 172 reported in 2021 eight less than the previous four years combined and 131 more than 2017.

While robberies decreased by more than 150 from 2017 to 2021, assaults jumped up more than 300 over the fve-year span and murders went from 17 to 21 during the same time frame, according to the report.

The number of property-related major crimes (burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) decreased over the fve-year sample size by nearly 2,000, going from 12,389 in 2017 to 10,618 in 2021, according to the statistics.

Martins backed by 3 Nassau County police unions

Continued from Page 12 Senate campaign flings, Kaplan announced she had more than $504,000 on hand, compared to Martins’ $41,000.

The 7th Senate district includes Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Williston Park, Mineola, Garden City Park, North Hills, Albertson, Old Westbury, East Hills, Roslyn, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Estates, Albertson, Searingtown, Lake Success, Manhasset, Munsey Park, Plandome, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, and the Great Neck and Port Washington peninsulas.

Martins served as Mineola’s mayor from 2003-2010. In 2008, he ran an unsuccessful congressional campaign against former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy before defeating incumbent 7th District Senator and Democrat Craig Johnson in 2010.

The race against Johnson was one that did not get resolved until early December due to Johnson demanding a recount of the votes, ultimately having his appeal denied by the state’s Court of Appeals.

After another failed attempt to get into Congress in 2016, losing to U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), Martins shifted his focus to becoming Nassau County’s new county executive, following former County Executive Edward Mangano being indicted on federal corruption charges.

Martins ultimately lost that race to Democrat Laura Curran, who served as county executive before being defeated by Republican Bruce Blakeman this past fall.

Temple Beth-El senior rabbi’s journey from D.C. to G.N.

Continued from Page 2 close to me,” he said. “And about a year later, a friend that I had grown up with since frst grade died from brain cancer when she was 28. So those two events just made me realize that life is fragile.”

Stoller then pursued his rabbinic aspirations by studying at Hebrew Union College’s Cincinnati campus, receiving his ordination in 2008. He then moved to Illinois to serve as an associate rabbi at a congregation in Deerfeld for nine years before his frst stint as a senior rabbi in Nebraska.

Now, joining the Temple Beth-El community with his wife, Karen and their children Lindsay and Zachary, Stoller said he is eager to lead a diverse community and cultivate longstanding relationships with so many throughout the peninsula and beyond.

“I am an efective leader because I see myself as part of the community I lead,” Stoller said. “I am good at building personal relationships because I enjoy people and want to be their friend. I just go out there and try to be myself because I believe that, in the end, all of us are seeking the same thing: to feel loved, to fnd joy in life and to be embraced by people who genuinely care.”

Aside from the pleasant connection he felt with the Great Neck community when he interviewed for the position, Stoller said it is a “privilege and honor” to be the temple’s sixth senior rabbi in a history spanning nearly 100 years.

“I’m following some real giants in the world of Reform Judaism who have all made tremendous impacts in the New York area and beyond,” Stoller said. “So to come in as the next in that chain of leaders is very humbling and a real privilege to serve this congregation and community. I hope to honor and protect those prominent legacies as I come into the role.”

Stoller said developing and cultivating relationships with congregants and temple staf, building a bridge between the preschool and greater community and learning more about the temple’s history and culture are his three main goals to help build “a solid foundation for success.”

The concept of pluralism, having many ways to believe and practice Judaism, is something Stoller said he looks forward to promoting to the congregation.

“Pluralism says that there are many diferent paths that people might walk and diferent ways of thinking and believing, none being better or more correct than the others,” Stoller said. “I’m excited to bring a pluralistic approach to leading Temple Beth-El and welcoming in a diversity of practice and belief into our community.”