This is a special message from Chief Chamberlain of the Tenafly Police Department regarding recent break-ins the Borough is experiencing.
Unfortunately, the police department investigated 4 home break-ins in the month of October. One of the burglaries was for home contents and valuables, while the last three appear to be for car fobs and cars. Purses and wallets containing the key fobs in the general vicinity of the fobs were also taken.
Immediately call the Tenafly Police Department at 201-568-5100 or 911 if you suspect suspicious activity or a crime in progress near your home or neighborhood. Do not hesitate.
The Tenafly Police are focused on this problem, and patrols have been stepped up. The department is investigating all the crimes, and we’re hopeful to make arrests in the future.
I spoke with the Bergen County Sheriff who’ll be offering additional patrols and resources to the area, and the Mayor spoke with the Attorney General, who agreed to supply additional resources to Tenafly. Our congressman is working to provide police task force resources as well.
The mayor is organizing a special Council meeting for next week where I will discuss with residents some of the details of what’s happening and what to do to help prevent these types of crimes.
We recently (in the past twelve months) installed plate reader cameras in nine locations throughout Tenafly to help record and apprehend criminals. While these don’t prevent a specific crime, they are very useful for investigations and infiltrating criminal groups.
Please remember to lock your home’s doors and windows. Consider parking and locking your vehicle in the garage and be sure to close and lock the garage door. Consider leaving on exterior lights, interior and exterior timer lights, and/or motion lighting.
If you have a home burglar alarm, use it. This includes when you’re home in Stay mode. This will alert you if someone enters the home while you’re there.
Lastly, information has been circulating on social media regarding some details of crimes in town that are simply untrue. Specifically, the mention of weapons. No weapons were used in any of the break-ins to our knowledge. Unconfirmed information or hearsay only serves to complicate our investigations and excite people more than they already are.
We will follow up with details on the special meeting for next week.
Chief Robert Chamberlain
Tenafly Police Department
