Back in September, a day or so after residents of Brooklyn Heights discovered as many as 23 swastikas painted on synagogues and other property, the police department sent around the neighborhood an officer to reassure residents that they were taking the matter seriously. A good thing they were. It turns out that yesterday the police obtained a confession to painting the swastikas from the culprit they arrested over the weekend for maintaining an arsenal of guns and pipe bombs in an apartment in a brownstone on one of the most idyllic street corners in the city.

What’s involved in this case hasn’t been sorted out yet. Our understanding is that the individual who has confessed to painting the swastikas, Ivaylo Ivanov, 31, and who has also been charged with the weapons violations, has a story in respect of the bombs. He has said they were to be used in fishing, where bombs can be set off in the water to stun fish and make them easier to catch. The police are not taking that story at face value, but are checking computers and other evidence to see whether there is any indication he might have attempted to use the bombs, say, to attack the synagogues he’s confessed to defacing.

This is a reminder that for all the fabulous work our officers have done in bringing down crime in the city, we are in a time when it pays to be on one’s toes. Penny Kaufman, a downstairs neighbor of the suspect, is quoted by our Sarah Garland as saying that she was “aghast” at the discovery that the individual living on the top floor of her building was connected to the anti-Semitic incident. “He seemed like your average punk kid,” Ms. Kaufman said. Just so. We are living in a time when it pays to take all matters seriously and to remember that there are no minor hate crimes.