I know for some this has been a harrowing few months. Gun violence across our region and across the country is on the rise and that has our community, rightfully, concerned. As a parent, as a resident, I also feel the impact of shootings and gun use in our community. It is normal to fear for your family and your loved ones when these events occur nearby.
As your mayor, I am committed to protecting this community from violence and maintaining the highest standard of policing we can possibly set.
The incidents over the last several days, while scary, are not random acts of violence. They are targeted events that involve the people who committed those acts and know, personally, the victims they were targeting. Obviously, innocent bystanders can still be hurt by these events, which is why the investigations into these crimes are so crucial.
All crime, especially crimes involving guns, are taken seriously by our police department, and they are investigated fully while following the very high standards of policing that we have set within our department. As a PA Chief’s Association accredited department, we meet the highest standard in the state for our process and our management of policing in our community. We will maintain that standard so long as I am mayor of this community.
I have found it is helpful to keep perspective in these moments of concern. Lansdale is a safe community. Our goal, and every community’s goal, is zero crime. However, improvement towards that goal is not achieved overnight and progress is incremental over time.
According to the UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) system maintained by the state, the 20-year (2002 – 2022) average for Lansdale is 59 crimes per month. Since 2018 to today, which is the most recent five-year period, that number has dropped to 18 crimes per month on average. A nearly 70% improvement in performance against the 20-year average. If broken down to just what is defined as “violent crime,” we see a similar improvement from 4.5 violent crimes per month on average over 20 years to around 1.3 violent crimes per month on average from 2018 to today — around a 70% decrease in violent crime in the community over the last five years.
Lansdale is dramatically safer today than it was 20 years prior, and that should instill confidence in our police and our community that we will maintain that standard going forward and we will bring those who commit crimes in our community to justice. Certainly, that is my goal.
I know some feel it is appropriate to compare Lansdale to Philadelphia or Norristown. However, the comparison is not even close. Even when made proportional based on population, the situations are so dramatically different that it is not possible to make it a logical argument.
All of this is not to say we cannot improve. Certainly, there is always room for improvement, and we will continue to aim for zero crime in the borough. In the coming months, Chief Trail and I will be asking Borough Council to fund more officers (as noted in prior musings) and another detective. As a growing community, we need more officers on duty to maintain our progress and continue to decrease crime in Lansdale.
As for the challenges around gun violence, it is a complicated issue and we really do need the cooperation of the entire county to help figure it out. As noted in the press, all the people involved in these recent shootings were not from Lansdale. They were from outside our community. I have reached out to our County Commissioners to find out how we can partner with them in curbing this troubling trend and I hope, as a whole county, we can find ways to get illegal and illicit guns off the streets quickly and safely.
For our part, Lansdale will continue to be a safe community for residents and businesses alike. Our police department will continue to improve and grow as our technology and our investment in staff continues. As noted, before, this is a work in progress and one that is likely to never be finished.
As a department, and as your mayor, we hear you and we are fighting every day to keep all of us safe.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert. The views expressed are his own.)
See also:
Mayoral Musings: Honoring ‘Mayor Mike’
Mayoral Musings: Growing the Lansdale Police Department
Mayoral Musings: Reaction to Roe vs Wade Being Overturned
Mayoral Musings: Enterprise Zone Discussion
Mayoral Musings: Block Parties In Lansdale
