Crime Stats, Fire Report and More from Village Hall

It’s budget season at Village Hall, and the Board of Trustees are busy reviewing the performance and budget of each department in preparation for the 2026-27 Village Budget.

These work sessions are recorded – and if you are interested, you can watch any of the sessions here:

On January 22, 2026 the Board met with the head of the Building Department, Police Department and Fire Department and reviewed performance and requests for increases in spending for the coming year.

Here are just a few of the interesting facts we noted while listening in on these sessions.

Building Department

Since the Board of Trustees implemented changes to the Building Code in 2025, procedures for applications have changed – resulting in more review at the Building Department and by land use boards.

In discussing their work Building Inspector Frank Diodati highlighted some of the work of the department including the issuance of stop work orders for jobs without permits and identifying unsafe work conditions.

Changes in the code have also created additional work such as:
• Tracking cumulative land disturbance and non-conformities created by code changes.
• Increasing code enforcement presence to address quality-of-life related issues.
• Providing plan review to confirm proper compliance between pre-moratorium, moratorium, and post-moratorium applications.

Diodati noted that additional challenges have resulted from:
-Implementing newly adopted 2025 New York State (NYS) Uniform Code and Energy Code which became effective on December 31, 2025.
-Initiating open space and area of disturbance forms and tracking cumulative land disturbance for future applications.
-Identifying non-conformities created by code changes which requires further in-depth review.
-Making it work with new regulations on non-conforming lots.

How has the new code affected the level of building in Scarsdale? Take a look at this chart, comparing activity year over year.

Diodati reported that building permits are down from prior years as well as applications to the BAR. Diodati attributed the decrease to the moratorium in July 2024 that slowed activity. Furthermore, many more applications are going to the Planning Board before the BAR, land disturbance code has changed and there is decreased inventory on the market.

Diodati said, “Even though the process has become time consuming, I think we have the right approach.”

Police Department

Police Chief Steven DelBene was proud to report that the department expects to receive their 11th consecutive CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) award in March, making Scarsdale the longest accredited department in the state. He says the department “served at the highest possible level,” and their response is “predictable, transparent and consistent, no matter who is on duty.”

Overall, crime appears to be on the decline: Take a look at this chart showing year over year police activity:

He said that the department’s drone is being used at big events and allows for better planning. The drone assisted in a hit and run accident, helped to locate a missing juvenile in a wooded area and to track a burglary in progress.

The department currently has four certified drone operators and they are requesting funds to train five more drone pilots.

In addition to the drone training, the department is requesting funds to purchase new police vehicles to replace some of the cars in the fleet.
Take at look at this chart tracking crime in Scarsdale, which appears to be down from the prior year.

Fire Department
Fire Chief Chris Mytych displayed the chart below of incident responses by the department.

In 2025 there were 60 fires, as compared to 61 in 2024. There were also 591 false calls, which Mytych says are a result of alarms, equipment malfunctions or odors of gas. Of these 60 fires, all but one were put out by Scarsdale firefighters alone. He said there is very little reliance on mutual aid, due to early notification.

Another interesting chart shows response time to calls, with Scarsdale beating standards and averages with a response time of just 4.29 minutes. Mytych said, “Much like an orchestra, firefighters perform best as an ensemble.”

He reported that the department has 46 career firefighters and 43 volunteer firefighters. This year they hired two new career firefighters and recruited two volunteer firefighters.

In terms of capital requests, the chief asked to replace one of the fire engines in the coming year.

See the full report here: