FBI Director Kash Patel hails Suffolk’s role in historic crime drop

More than 400 law enforcement officials from across Long Island packed the Port Jefferson Country Club Thursday night to hear from FBI Director Kash Patel, who came with a message for local police: The historic drop in violent crime happening across the country is being driven in part, he said, by work being done here on the Island.

Patel singled out Suffolk County law enforcement during the invitation-only gathering, crediting local agencies for helping drive down violent crime.

“The fact that you all stood together and reduced the murder rate across this country by 20 points … is truly historic work,” Patel said. “America has seen the most prolific reduction in violent crime in our nation’s history, and it’s centered around the work right here on Long Island, and right here in Suffolk County.”

Patel’s comments came during a law enforcement fireside chat that brought together police representatives from departments across Long Island.

The event was hosted by the Suffolk County Police Asian Jade Society and co-sponsored by the Suffolk County PBA.

Joining Patel on the panel were Suffolk County PBA President Lou Civello, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina and Allen Bode, chief assistant Suffolk County district attorney.

How crime has fallen

Patel’s comments came as the FBI reports a historic decline in violent crime nationally.

Violent crime fell 9.3% nationwide in 2025, according to the FBI’s latest data, the largest year-over-year decline since the bureau began estimating national crime trends in 1936.

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter fell 18.1%, robbery dropped 18.5%, rape declined 7.6% and aggravated assault fell 7.2%.

The national murder rate also fell to 4.1 killings per 100,000 people, matching the rates recorded in 1955 and 1956 for the lowest since the FBI began keeping national estimates.

Suffolk has seen a sharp decline of its own.

According to county figures, homicides fell from 33 in 2021 to 16 in 2024. Suffolk’s violent crime rate stood at 100.3 per 100,000 people, lower than the other large New York jurisdictions compared by the county.

Protecting police

But Thursday night’s discussion wasn’t limited to crime statistics.

Civello asked Patel about another growing concern among police officers: threats and harassment directed at them and their families.

“Our officers are being doxed, they are being harassed. They are being targeted in their own homes,” Civello told Patel. “What strategies can we employ to protect our officers both on and off duty?”

Patel’s response was blunt.

“The simple ethos that I told President Trump that I would run the FBI with is that if you touch a cop, we are going to put you down, we are going to put you in a hole and you are going to prison,” Patel said. “And we’ve been doing it.”

Patel urged local departments to immediately report threats against officers and their families to the FBI.

“We take that case and present it to the federal prosecutor,” he said. “We are no longer turning down those cases because they aren’t a priority. Those cases go to the front of the line.”

Then Patel delivered a message directly to the officers in the room.

“You guys are at the front of the line,” he said. “It’s on us to protect you.”

Following the fraud

Patel also urged local police departments to report fraud cases to the FBI, including Medicare fraud, cyber scams originating overseas and crimes involving stolen catalytic converters.

Individual cases, he said, can help federal investigators identify larger criminal networks and work with prosecutors to build broader cases.

Patel said that over the previous six months, six people he described as among the FBI’s most wanted fraudsters had been arrested, with suspects coming from four continents.

Patel also emphasized what he described as the FBI’s “apolitical mission.”

“What we have to do is make sure we remind the citizens that we are going to eliminate bureaucracy, we are not going to let politicians stand in the way,” he said.

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Top: FBI Director Kash Patel listens as President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner for members of his administration and law enforcement organization leaders, during National Police Week, in the White House Rose Garden, Monday, May 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)