Riverhead arrests plummeted during April’s coronavirus peak

As the coronavirus outbreak reached its peak in April, police activity in the Town of Riverhead plummeted, according to data released by the Riverhead Police Department last week. That followed a less dramatic but still significant drop in March, police data show.

The number of arrests made by Riverhead police fell 92% in April 2020 compared to the April 2019 — from 91 in April 2019 to just seven in 2020. Arrests in March 2020 (29) fell 65% from March 2019 (83).

According to police data, the number of arrests in 2020 was on the decline even before the COVID crisis struck.

This year, police made 54 arrests in January and 55 arrests in February, compared to 69 and 82 arrests in January and February, respectively in 2019. Police made a total of 145 arrests in the first four months of 2019, compared to 325 arrests.

Riverhead Police received 121 reports of criminal incidents in April 2020, about the same number as in March, but a decline of 10.4% compared to April 2019, when police received 135 reports of criminal incidents.

Arrests last April included incidents that have had no counterparts in 2020, Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said. For instance, last April there were 25 outstanding warrant arrests and this year, courts are not open. Last year, there were 13 arrests stemming from the operation of motor vehicles — such as DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation arrests — and this year, traffic on local roads was way down.

Motor vehicle accidents were drastically reduced as well: down from 149 in April 2019 to 70 in April this year, a decrease of more than 50%. There were also five arrests last April for unlawfully dealing with a minor, the result of 19 checks into premises for compliance with State Liquor Authority rules; there were no SLA checks conducted this April.

Calls received by police dropped more than 42% compared to April 2019 — and 31% from the month before (March 2020) — after falling 7.5% in March (compared to March 2019.) the number of noncriminal incidents reported actually increased from 1,029 in April 2019 to 1,465 in April this year.

The number of prisoners detained by Riverhead police fell sharply in 2020 — in part due to the COVID-related decline in arrests, but also as a result of a criminal justice reform law that took effect in January that eliminated cash bail for most defendants.

Police in the first four months of 2020 detained 92 prisoners, compared to 266 during the first four months of 2019. In 2020, police detained 25 prisoners in January, 29 in February, 21 in March and 7 in April. In 2019, police detained 55 prisoners in January, 67 in February, 71 in March and 73 in April.

Riverhead police issued 62 summonses in April, compared to 945 in April 2019 — a 93% drop. Summonses issued fell 22% in March — from 805 in March 2019 to 638 in March 2020.

Calls received by police dropped more than 42% compared to April 2019 — and 31% from the month before (March 2020) — after falling 7.5% in March (compared to March 2019.)

Though the number of criminal incidents reported to police dropped by 10.4%, the number of noncriminal incidents reported actually increased from 1,029 in April 2019 to 1,465 in April this year.

Reports of domestic incidents increased from 58 in April 2019 to 63 this April.

With people staying home more, the number of motor vehicle accidents fell dramatically, as well, from 149 in April 2019 to 70 in April this year — a 53% drop.

Revenues collected by the police department dropped drastically in April, compared to April 2019. Revenues fell from 10,915.75 in April 2019 to 1,442.75 in April this year.

Drug overdoses during the pandemic

Overdoses in Riverhead Town remained at the same level in the first four months of 2020 as in the same period last year — 12, all nonfatal. But that changed in May.

“There has been an uptick overdoses as of late,” Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller told the Riverhead Town Board during its work session last week, when he presented the monthly report. All overdoses are being investigated by the East End Drug Task Force, Hegermiller said.

“Opioids are hard to get at this time, so it’s surmised that more fentanyl is being added,” he said.

Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini last month issued a warning to the public about fentanyl-laced cocaine, following three overdoses in Riverhead, one of them fatal, May 20 and 21.

A 32-year-old Riverhead man was arrested on drug charges following the May 21 fatal overdose.

The district attorney said at the time that Suffolk has seen a 16% increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses in 2020, compared to 2019.