December incidents of crime drop more than 20 percent

Incidents of crime in December dropped by 23 percent compared to December of last year.

Fifty-nine incidents of crime were reported in Dec. 2009, according to Division of Public Safety statistics. By comparison, 77 incidents were reported over the same period in 2008.

This reduction parallels the 14-percent drop in year-to-date crime levels across all categories, as compared to those of a year ago.

Among the six violent crimes reported over this period were one robbery, one aggravated assault and one purse-snatching incident.

There were also three cases of simple assault — an increase from the previous year, during which none were reported.

The rise in simple assaults reflects a general upsurge in the number of assaults reported in 2009 as compared to last year, which saw 10 aggravated assaults and 24 simple assaults. This year, the number of simple assaults rose by 10 and aggravated assaults by 9.

However, Penn Police Chief Mark Dorsey emphasized that most assaults occurred between individuals who had “some kind of prior contact with one another.”

Crimes against property reported in December, by contrast, dropped significantly, falling from last year’s 70 to 53 this year.

“We’ve done well on property crime,” Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said, attributing the reduction to DPS’s ongoing Operation Theft Awareness campaign.

She added that the campaign has been particularly successful at decreasing the incidence of bicycle theft, which has undergone a 25-percent overall reduction since last year.

Likewise, thefts from automobiles in December decreased by 56 percent and burglaries by 44 percent.

Counter to this trend, 22 incidents of theft from buildings were reported, marking a 144-percent increase from the nine building thefts reported in Dec. 2008.

Dorsey attributed this increase largely to students leaving personal belongings unattended in densely populated public spaces during finals season.

“When there are large amounts of people going to libraries, for instance, we have to be cognizant that we can’t leave our things out,” he said, citing this understanding as the basis for the Operation Theft Awareness campaign.

Launched two years ago, the DPS initiative involves posting flyers in campus buildings and local commercial establishments reminding people to look after their possessions, in addition to educating students about the importance of keeping their personal items close and accounted for.

This 24-percent reduction in the number of crimes against property in December is reflective of a more general decline in offenses of this nature — year-to-date data from both this year and last year reveal an 18-percent decrease among crimes involving property.

“We’ve seen a very positive impact in the last two years, and it’s important to continue to work hard,” Rush said.

“Even though the numbers are down,” she added, there are “still too many [incidents] for us to feel it’s no longer a concern.”

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