Mahwah Crime Trends: Drugs, Identity Theft 'Biggest Concerns'

Some of the biggest crime concerns in Mahwah are the uptick in arrests for serious drug crimes, residential burglaries, and an increase in identity theft cases, Police Chief Jim Batelli told Patch in a recent interview.

According to statistics released by the police department last month, crime rates in nearly every category were up in Mahwah in 2012 versus what they were in 2011. But, Batelli said one of the major concerns of the PD continuing into 2013 is the increase in drug arrests.

“Marijuana arrests were up 36% [in 2012], and arrests for Controlled Dangerous Substances, which is everything else, were up 179%,” Batelli said. “Historically, marijuana has been the drug of choice, but lately were are seeing cocaine, prescription drugs, more and more heroin, and last year we had our first arrests for crystal meth.”

The PD arrested a “handful,” of residents in 2012 on crystal meth charges, which Batelli said was “not shocking, because it had been in Rockland County before, but is just so concerning because it is so highly addictive.”

Cops say data on how many of the drug arrests in Mahwah are of Mahwah residents, and how many are out-of-towners driving through, was not calculated. However, according to police, arrests from Ramapo College are not artificially inflating the arrest numbers.

According to Batelli, Ramapo College arrests account for about 10-15% of the overall number of drug and alcohol arrests in the township.

The low statistic does not reflect actual usage on campus, Batelli said, because the MPD doesn’t actively patrol the school, it only responds when emergency calls are placed. Still, the “overwhelming majority,” of the increasing number of drug arrests, he said, are in the township itself, not at the college.

According to the statistics, burglaries were up 41.67% last year, and thefts were up nearly 23%. Police say residential burglaries and identity thefts are some of their biggest concerns moving forward.

The trend in 2012 was toward residential burglaries, and away from commercial ones, police said.

Batelli offered some potential reasons for the trend.

“The alarm systems in businesses are more complex, and businesses don’t really keep cash in the store after hours anymore. A lot of people keep expensive jewelry and, we’ve seen, a significant amount of cash, in their homes,” he said.

The rise in residential burglaries in Mahwah is in accord with a jump county-wide, police said.

And, though there is no specific statistic on identity theft alone, police say it is one of the biggest trends they are seeing in Mahwah. The number of people reporting identity theft cases “significantly increased,” in 2012, Batelli said.

Since most of these crimes are committed over the Internet, and often involve criminals from other states or overseas, Batelli said police investigations into identity thefts are often longer and more complex than they are in traditional crimes.

“The fingerprint for an identity theft is an IP address,” he said.

One case in Mahwah in 2012, in which received a lot of attention in 2012, but police say it was only one of many ID theft cases they investigated last year.

Overall, arrests were up in Mahwah 21% in 2012. See a breakdown of the crime rates here.

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