TOWN OF MANLIUS – Heading into the holiday shopping season, the Town of Manlius Police Department has announced the formation of a new task force to address rising retail crime affecting Fayetteville Towne Center.
The enhanced public-private partnership with the development company COR Properties and local retailers at that shopping center follows the police department’s creation of Chief Jason Cassalia’s business advisory committee, an initiative started early this year to increase communication and collaboration between the department and local customers, employees and business owners.
The police department’s latest analysis revealed that a “significant portion” of retail crime and business losses due to theft within the town of Manlius has been concentrated at the commercial hub of Towne Center.
According to a press release from the department dated Nov. 25, total incidents at Towne Center requiring police service of any kind had jumped 35% up to that point in 2024 over the previous year, but that increased figure counts car accidents, assistance to civilians and various other calls, not just larcenies.
Manlius Lt. Gregory Snyder said that by the end of this year that number of incidents is likely to be even higher.
Snyder said the reasons behind the “substantial” overall increase are not entirely known but that it could be attributed to a “multitude of factors,” such as a higher volume of people visiting the busy plaza as a natural result of new businesses opening there recently.
Specifically, the amount of Towne Center larcenies responded to by the Manlius Police is on pace to be up about 20%, Snyder said, which spurred the department to step up its patrolling presence at that site.
“Usually the numbers for us are pretty consistently around 100 reported larcenies a year there give or take, but this year we’re on pace for closer to 120 or more,” Snyder said. “And I think a lot of larcenies are backloaded around the holiday season, so we’re kind of anticipating that and trying to prevent that before it occurs.”
Snyder said businesses also tend to be heavier-stocked during the holidays, plus some may be busier than usual, making it easier to blend into the crowd when staff is occupied with legitimate customers.
“And then otherwise it’s just the practical reality too that a lot of people stealing are doing it just for their own need around the holiday season, since they want new things too but they unfortunately may not have the financial means,” Snyder said. “Or if they’re the more organized crime groups, they’re looking to steal because they know it’s also the time to sell things.”
In addition to having uniformed officers nearby in marked patrol vehicles, the town police will be deploying officers dressed in plain clothes as necessary around Towne Center and within stores participating in the concentrated crime-combatting effort.
There will also be signs conspicuously displayed around the mall informing the public about the presence of plainclothes officers. Snyder said the department is not hiding its intentions because the point of the task force is to curb wrongdoing not just through enforcement but through deterrence too.
“We don’t actually want to just simply catch people in the act,” the lieutenant said. “We want to make abundantly clear to people that if they’re gonna be in Towne Center for illegitimate purposes and to victimize the people there or the businesses, that there are gonna be officers there to catch them and make arrests and trespass them so they can’t come back.”
Officers patrolling Fayetteville Towne Center will also be on the lookout for crimes occurring in the parking lots, and law-abiding shoppers and families are being reminded to be watchful and not to leave purchases in their vehicles longer than necessary wherever they’re parked.
Not just during the festive season but any time of year, the public is asked by the police to keep bags, packages and valuables out of sight, remove keys from their vehicles, and remember to lock their cars.
Snyder said his police department’s effort is set to continue past Christmas and New Year’s Day and into the first few weeks of January to stay wary of any gift card scams and return fraud that occurs.
“Beyond that, it’s gonna depend,” he said. “We’ll be looking at how the holiday season went and evaluating at that point what our efforts were worth. If it’s very successful from the business perspective and they see noticeable reductions in their financial losses, that might be encouragement for us to try and do this throughout the year here and there.”
Those arrested for crimes should also expect to be trespassed from all COR property for up to three years, the Manlius Police said. Subsequent arrests in violation of no trespass orders may result in serious felony charges with the possibility of jail time exceeding one year.