Police: Daytime crimes spike in PSA-1 section of the 39th District

Thieves are keeping banker’s hours in sections of the 39th Police District.

At the monthly 39th District Police Service Area 1 meeting, Lt. Edward Bier reported that crime is trending to daylight hours.  The area includes East Falls and sections of Germantown and North Philadelphia.

As of April 25, 87 violent and property crimes were recorded, an average of almost 3½ per day, according to Bier.

Of these, 38 occurred during the PPD’s 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. day shift. By comparison, he said, 36 occurred during the 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. tour of duty. 

Bier said that Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays were the days of the week with the most reported criminal enterprise. Contrary to common belief, he noted, Friday and Saturday were the lowest.

Overall, these figures represent a slight increase in the amount of “Part 1” crimes – aka violent and property offenses – reported in March, which averaged less than three per day, according to Bier.

Regarding April’s crime increases, Bier said, “that’s a huge jump from what it was.”

Rise in auto thefts

At the center of these increases were thefts from vehicles, with 39 incidents reported.

However, Bier suggested that this could be a conservative number. PPD protocol is to record all such incidents occurring at a similar time and within the same general area on a single report.

He pointed to simple steps to prevent such thefts.

You can’t leave anything in those vehicles,” he said. “You have to make yourself a hard target.”

Mary Jane Fullam, president of the East Falls Town Watch, pointed to previous efforts to alert the community to these common-sense safety practices, but indicated that she would renew her efforts to keep this topic alive in the minds of local residents.

Indices of other “Part 1” crimes remain steady. Thirteen residential burglaries and 19 general thefts were reported – in line with last month’s 21 general thefts – with one aggravated assault and no homicides.

Join Lt. Bier for crime reports and discussion of community concerns at PSA-1’s next monthly meeting, to be held on May 16 at 6 p.m. at Philadelphia University.