Philadelphia Crime Wave Of Burglary, Larceny And Auto Theft Spills Into Nearby Suburbs

The crime wave that has been actively taking place in Philadelphia (among many other U.S. cities) is now starting to spread to the suburbs. 

Crime statistics were up "double-digit percentages" in Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks counties - three major suburban counties that border Philadelphia county - from 2021 to 2022, according to the Delaware Valley Journal. 

The Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System shows that increasing crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. Oddly, the report notes that Chester County, usually seen as a hotbed of crime near Philadelphia, saw its numbers decrease in almost ever statistical category. 

In other words, the crime wave that started near the middle of 2020 appears to be moving out of the city and into the nearby suburbs. Larceny and auto thefts are seeing two of the biggest increases, the report wrote:

Taking the four counties combined, auto thefts climbed from 2,302 in 2021 to 2,834 in 2022, an increase of 23 percent. Those figures compare to a dramatic spike in auto thefts in Philadelphia. In 2022, the city reached a two-decade-long high of 14,533 car thefts, up from 11,341 in 2021. This year, however, the city is set to blow past both of those figures, as the current trend shows Philadelphia will likely surpass 20,000 car thefts in 2023.

In the four counties, larceny counts went from 23,690 in 2021 to 30,496 in 2022. Burglaries are up 32%, 24% and 17% in Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties, the report notes. 

Montgomery County DA Kevin Steele's website has focused instead on gun crimes, which don't show in the above categories. His office's website says he is “strategically focused on: A) homicides; B) illegal guns on our streets: ghost guns and gun traffickers putting deadly weapons in the hands of criminals; C) drug traffickers who are killing people by peddling their deadly poisons like fentanyl and other drugs; and D) those who cause harm to women and children.”

In Bucks County, DA Weintraub commented: “One trend we’re seeing across the state is younger and younger people, especially minors, are the population rising the quickest [for] carrying firearms.”

And Delco DA Jack Stollsteimer wrote an op-ed in January which stated: “We have reduced the gun violence homicide rate in the City of Chester by 60 percent and the overall number of gun violence incidents by 46 percent,” Stollsteimer wrote. The only other measurement he provided in the piece was to say, “Through collaboration and innovation, my team has spearheaded a 30 percent reduction in the prison population here in Delaware County.”

The city is already starting to implement changes, electing former state representative and city councilor Cherelle Parker as the Democratic nominee for mayor, which nearly assures her win in November. Parker was seen as the most pro-law enforcement candidate of the left, running on bolstering the police's ranks and supporting policies like stop and frisk.

Now the only question is whether the suburbs will have to be next in addressing the issue...