Crime on and around Penn’s campus has climbed steadily over the past five years.
To see how that increase has affected Penn and the surrounding University City neighborhood, The Daily Pennsylvanian examined figures from Penn’s Annual Security & Fire Safety Reports as well as Weekly Crime Reports. The data — organized by type of crime, location, and time — offers a detailed picture of how, where, and when infractions occur.
From 2020 to 2025, violent and property crime on and around campus rose every year, from 593 reported offenses in 2020 to 1,275 in 2025 — an increase of 115% over the period. Violent crime includes criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated and simple assault. Property crime covers burglary, theft, motor vehicle and attempted motor vehicle theft, and arson.
Total crime also includes offenses such as forgery, fraud, and vandalism.
The broader increase in crime over that period is consistent with the country at large, Vice President for the Division of Public Safety Kathleen Shields Anderson said in an interview.
“Violent crime rose, not only in Philadelphia, but consistent with the national trends, in the first few years after the start of COVID,” she said. “You’ll see a lot of those numbers much lower in 2021, and then see them slowly increase.”
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Theft accounted for the largest share of crime every year, making up 66.7% of known offenses in 2025. Motor vehicle theft and simple assault followed, at 15.9% and 10%, respectively. That year, DPS reported 1,275 violent and 190 nonviolent crimes, for a total of 1,465. The statistics reflect an expanded geographic area beyond Penn’s campus, according to the report.
“Theft has always been our highest reported crime, and that’s why we conduct safety presentations and seminars,” Shields Anderson said. “Our strategy leans heavily on reducing opportunity rather than targeting motive.”
In 2021, there were 41 reported motor vehicle thefts. That figure jumped to 225 in 2024 before falling to 203 in 2025 — the first reported decrease since 2017. According to Shields Anderson, the earlier rise stems from a change in how the city and Pennsylvania classify e-scooters, which are now counted as motor vehicles. The increase in scooter thefts has been a particular concern for DPS, which issued a campus-wide email last year about its investigation into thefts in areas patrolled by Penn Police.
Penn has continued to improve its infrastructure, aiming to bring the numbers down. Efforts include placing hang tags reminding students to register and lock their scooters and a recent investment in secure scooter racks.
“The fact that we saw a significant drop since last year is a testament to the effort that the University has put into this issue,” Shields Anderson said. “We don’t know what someone’s motive is for committing crime, but if we can take away their opportunity, that can reduce crime.”
According to Shields Anderson, crime around campus has dropped, and total crime today is down 18% compared with the same period last year.
In the past 12 months, from September 2025 to September 2026, retail theft was the most common type of crime, at 318, according to Penn’s Weekly Crime Reports. In total, DPS reported 1,365 crimes within the Penn Police Patrol Zone in the past year.
4233 Chestnut St. — the location of the liquor store Fine Wine & Good Spirits — had the greatest number of crimes, the vast majority retail thefts, at 158.
Crimes were also more likely to occur later in the day. The most common hour was 5 to 6 p.m., with 100 crimes reported, followed by 99 from 4 to 5 p.m. and 90 from 6 to 7 p.m. Fewer than a third of the crimes were reported in the morning.
The University is required to disclose crimes on campus under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, a 1990 federal law named after Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University first-year student murdered in her dorm room in 1986. DPS reporting goes beyond what is required by law, according to Shields Anderson.
“We go beyond the Clery Act and publish all crime reported, not only to the Penn Police but other entities in our patrol zone,” Shields Anderson said.
She described the disclosures as part of a broader safety philosophy at Penn that treats crime data as a tool for the community.
“Safety is a feeling, and also a shared responsibility — a part of that is for folks to educate themselves on crime that’s occurring on campus,” Shields Anderson said. “What I don’t think this data is meant to do is say whether this is a safe or unsafe place. What I do think it does is allow you to make informed decisions about the places you live, study, and work.”
DPS’s response to crime trends has changed over the past five years, Shields Anderson explained, shaped increasingly by data and partnerships with other institutions.
“We always try to choose the right tool to address issues that affect people’s safety,” she said. “The tool selection is driven by data, and our approach is collaboration with our community and our partners, whether that is PPD, Drexel, or University City Public Safety.”
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, what we are committed to is helping people whenever they have been impacted, whether or not it is crime-related,” she added. “If something has happened and you don’t know where to start, you don’t need to worry about whether it’s a crime or not. The mission of the Division of Public Safety is that when people need help, we’re able to connect them to the right resources.”
News Editor Isha Chitirala contributed reporting.
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Staff reporter Eleftheria Sermpeti contributes to data reporting and can be reached at sermpeti@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies economics and international relations.
