Two women were robbed in their Second Street home at mid-morning on April 3 when two burglars used a ruse to break in, police said last week. The women were bound while the thieves searched the home for valuables.
Police are now looking for two suspects. One suspect is described as a white male in his late 20s or early 30s with a tall, slender build. The victims described the second suspect as a black male in his late 30s, 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 inches tall, with a stocky build. Police have a composite sketch on file for the second suspect.
“This home was targeted.” – Police Chief Dennis Corcoran
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“I can tell you this was not a random crime,” Corcoran said. “This home was targeted. When the suspects knocked on the door, they appeared to be in law enforcement, and they began asking questions about a business that is owned by one of the [victims]. After she asked them to come inside, she became suspicious and asked to see identification. That’s when the women were tied up.”
The women were otherwise unharmed, he said.
No connection to other break-ins
The town has seen six home burglaries this year, a fact that has alarmed residents, but which Chief Corcoran said is not part of a spike in crime.
Corcoran said this latest crime has no connection to the others. The others, he added, are likely the work of a group of people who have hit several towns in Bergen County and Secaucus.
The Secaucus Police force is working with law enforcement agencies in Bergen County to crack these crimes, and so far one arrest has been made.
“The crimes are serious, but I think everyone is kind of hitting the panic button. And that’s what happens when you have a lot of incidents in a short period of time.” Corcoran said. “Home burglaries are down about 300 percent. I think commercial burglaries are down something like 500 or 600 percent.”
He also has said before that auto thefts are down by more than 600 percent.
Too few resources?
With 57 officers on the Secaucus police force, some residents are wondering whether the department needs more manpower to address the problem.
“It’s a small town, but maybe they haven’t needed a lot of cops before. But maybe this is a sign that they need more bodies to patrol the streets and investigate these crimes,” said resident Edna Scott.
“Ideally, I’d like to have a force of 63 officers, which would be an additional six people,” Corcoran said. “But we can easily compensate by asking the officers we have to work a little overtime. Some people point out that we once had as many as 68 people on the force. But that was really a high number.”
He added that between salaries, workman’s comp, health insurance, and other benefits, the town pays about $100,000 per officer, so adding additional officers would be too costly.
Mayor Dennis Elwell has also floated the idea of establishing a town-wide neighborhood watch program to stem the recent break-in activity. At a Town Council meeting in January, the mayor said similar programs have been effective in other communities and might be helpful in Secaucus.
“It’s worth a try,” Corcoran said at the time, “although I know they tried to start one about 20 years ago and there was very little interest. If they try to start one again, I just hope there’s more interest from residents than there was before.”
To avoid becoming the victim of a break-in, Corcoran recommended that residents do what he called “common sense things.” He recommended that residents lock their doors when they leave home, make sure mail and newspapers are picked up when go away, and be aware of suspicious people who appear to be lurking.
Reach E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.