Fair Lawn Burglaries Down on Year After 2 Month Lull

Following a rampage of burglaries this spring, it looked for months like Fair Lawn would surpass last year's burglary total and record a decade-high number of break-ins in 2012.

But for the first time since February, burglaries in Fair Lawn are down over last year as the summer's burglary swoon has carried forward into fall.

The months of October and November, traditionally considered "burglary season" by local police because break-ins tend to jump, were unusually quiet this year.

Fair Lawn registered three burglaries in October and just one in November -- the fewest number of break-ins recorded over consecutive months in the past two years.

"I knew we were doing well, but I don’t necessarily watch every number every day," Police Chief Erik Rose said after viewing November's Uniform Crime Report. "I don’t remember the last time we had only one burglary [in a month]."

Rose said he attributes the decline in burglaries this fall to a combination of aggressive police work and good luck.

"With burglaries, there's a certain degree of randomness," he explained, referencing the serial smash-and-grab burglar suspected of hitting Fair Lawn hard this spring before moving on to strike businesses other communities.

"Their loss is our gain," he said.

Fair Lawn's index crimes -- which include murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts -- are down 5 percent on the year. The department's clearance rate is also up this year, hovering close to 40 percent.

For the first 11 months of each year:

Burglaries by month for the past seven months:

For a full breakdown of the last six years of Fair Lawn's UCR data:

*2012 crime statistics are through November.

Click here to find UCR data from 1990 to 2011 

Click here for more info on the Uniform Crime Reporting Methodology

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