A burglar swiped thousands of dollars worth of tools and building materials, including a security camera, from the soon-to-open parole headquarters in Gowanus in January, police said.
A representative of the state corrections department claimed to have no knowledge of the break-in, though the office on Second avenue between Fifth Street and the Gowanus Canal is set to open in April.
“In January, 2015 I do not believe we had taken control of that property,” Linda Foglia said. “If something happened before we came in, we might not have the same security protocol as is in place right now.”
The theft took place between Jan. 2 and 31, officers said. The culprit or culprits absconded with a $400 DeWalt drill, a box of door handles, some smoke detectors, and some strobe lights, worth $1,800 together, and a security camera valued at $1,000, according to a report.
Police think it may have been an inside job.
Activists have railed against the facility, saying that it will bring crime to the mixed industrial and residential area. In January, the state agreed to scale down the operation as part of a lawsuit settlement. The new arrangement will have 2,000 parolees reporting to the center, and another 4,000 fanning out to yet-to-be-disclosed satellite offices around Brooklyn.
