Special report: York City, county see annual crime rate dropping
York City's serious crime rate dropped between 2008 and 2009 and has fallen again in 2010, Police Chief Wes Kahley said.
Countywide, serious crime remained fairly consistent from 2008 to 2009, according to recently released crime statistics.
Besides York City, the highest crime rates were reported in Hanover, West Manchester Township, Springettsbury Township and Spring Garden Township, according to an analysis of those statistics by The York Dispatch.
The city had 2,469 serious crimes last year compared to 2,642 in 2008. That's a 6.5 percent decrease and a rate of about 61 crimes per 1,000 people in 2009.
The city is reporting six homicides as the year
closes -- the fewest in the past four years. Although police say the number fluctuates each year, there are several factors that could have contributed to the most recent decline.Those rates are based on crimes classified as Part 1 offenses in the annual Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Report: murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Kahley, who took over the department in April, said serious crime is again down in the city -- about 22 percent as 2010 winds down.
"We're trying to drive our efforts to where we have more crimes," Kahley said, noting focused neighborhood patrol units. "Things aren't perfect where I want them to be, but they're better."
In York: Kahley said he is used to dealing with the negative perception of the city.
"It's something that I deal with all the time," he said.
One of the most effective ways to battle serious crime in the city is making sure police officers are visible, Kahley said.
Neighborhood policing units -- police officers who walk or bike around targeted neighborhoods -- are a successful law enforcement tool. The units allow officers to get to know residents as well as their landlords, he said.
The city has four units of foot and bike officers who patrol sections of the city. The department was awarded a federal grant worth almost $1 million in October, which Kahley plans to use to hire five officers in order to shift more officers to community policing units.
The new officers will be put into patrol duty, allowing more experienced officers to shift to the neighborhood policing units.
"We're seeing a lot of good results from that," he said of the neighborhood policing units. "To me, that helps reduce crime. The police department can't go out and solve any of the quality-of-life issues without the help of the community."
Highest crime rates: Hanover and West Manchester Township reported
the second- and third-highest serious crime rates in the county last year at 46 and 44 crimes per 1,000 people, respectively.Springettsbury Township reported 39 serious crimes per 1,000 people. Spring Garden rounded out the top five with 37 serious crimes per 1,000 people.
All 20 York County police departments must report crime information to the FBI annually for federal funding eligibility.
Officials from both Hanover and Springettsbury Township said their municipalities are full of businesses, which attract criminals.
Hanover Police Chief Randy Whitson said about 60 percent of his department's calls involve people -- both criminals and victims -- who live outside the borough, which he said serves as a major retail hub for northern Maryland and eastern Adams County.
"Our biggest (serious) crime is theft," he said. "One of the things we've found is that we have been victimized a lot by persons coming here from larger metropolitan areas that have some type of chemical dependency problems, commit big-ticket theft, take them back to the metropolitan areas and exchange them for drugs."
In order to fight retail theft, Whitson said, the department has been working closely with both small businesses owners and commercial chains. Officers trained small-businesses owners to identify characteristics of people attempting to commit retail theft, while loss prevention officers of chain stores are being told how to preserve evidence the police can use for prosecution.
Whitson also said he sends extra patrols out when possible to routinely drive through retail areas as a deterrent. Black Friday, he said, was especially busy.
Hanover's crime rate has remained consistent since 2005, varying by 2 percent to 5 percent each year, Whitson said.
As of October, Hanover has recorded 460 serious crimes, compared to 694 last year, which means the crime rate should show a substantial drop in next year's crime report.
In West Manchester: Visibility is also one of the most valuable tools to fight crime in West Manchester Township, Police Chief Arthur Smith said.
"We study crime trends and try to put people where they're needed," he said. "The visibility of patrols driving through neighborhoods can have some sort of deterrence effect."
His police officers routinely do patrol checks through parks, businesses and schools and also residential checks for people on vacation. He said the biggest success of visibility is during the York Fair. There is no way to measure the effect of visibility in those places, Smith said.
West Manchester reported the third-highest crime rate in the county last year. And although reported serious crimes in most categories dropped, the number of larcenies rose so much that the total number of reported serious crimes increased. West Manchester reported 809 serious crimes in 2009 and 783 serious crimes in 2008.
Larceny is the unlawful taking of property from someone, such as bicycle theft, car and car part theft, shoplifting and pick-pocketing. Forceful taking and fraud are not included, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting.
Like the other departments, West Manchester Township Police deal largely with larceny, which made up about 85 percent of all serious crimes last year. The department also deals with a great deal of bank robbery, Smith said.
"We had a series of bank robberies," he said. "We started having guys go on patrol and stopping at banks. Since we've been doing that, we've had success lowering those numbers. That's good, old-fashioned police work."
In Springettsbury: Springettsbury Township's serious crime rate fell almost 15 percent from 2008 to 2009. The department reported 981 total serious crimes in 2009, of which 884, or about 90 percent, were theft-related.
"This is a target-rich environment," Chief Dave Eshbach said. "We have the Galleria mall, York Market Place, strip malls, several electronic stores ... those are all things criminals target to steal to trade on the street for drugs."
Eshbach said his department also actively searches for drug-related offenses. He said arrests have consistently been up for the past several years.
"One of the things that we do is we're very aggressive with our drug arrests because it spurred so much of that theft crime," he said. "We go after drug violations."
In Spring Garden: Burglary and larceny made up about 88 percent of Spring Garden Township's reported serious crimes in 2009. The township's serious crimes were slightly up last year -- to 448 from 413 in 2008.
Chief George Swartz said his department's biggest battle has typically always been theft-related offenses.
In 2009, Spring Garden Township Police reported 25 retail thefts, but so far this year Swartz said they have 60. A substantial number of retail thefts are people who pump gas then drive off.
Like the other departments, Swartz said marked cruisers and uniformed police officers serve as a deterrent. Officers routinely patrol businesses and neighborhoods to thwart potential criminals, he said.
Swartz said he also reaches out to the six neighborhood block watch groups in the township. He sends out e-mail blasts and news releases to build a partnership with the groups. By January, Swartz said, he hopes crime alerts will even be available on the department's website.
"We want to get information out and readily available to the public," he said. "They can be our eyes and ears."
-- Reach Amanda Dolasinski at 505-5434 or ado lasinski@yorkdispatch.com.
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