Crime drops significantly during pandemic

WEST CHESTER >> If there is a silver lining, with the very dark cloud hanging over Chester County — the ongoing pandemic — it might be that several county police departments reported a reduction in crime.

West Chester Police Department Lt. Joshua Lee said that crime statistics are determined from year to year and the number of overall reported calls dropped “significantly,” or by 38 percent, from 2019 to 2020. Criminal arrests for assaults, break-ins and robberies were down 30 percent. Also, of note, borough crime rates have tended to drop for more than a decade but not as much as they did during 2020.

In the borough, traffic citations were down 65 percent. Lee attributed the decrease to fewer cars on the roads. Warnings were up

23 percent.

While DUI arrests were down 30 percent in the county seat, Chief Bill Holdsworth of Kennett Square Police Department, said DUI arrests also decreased in the Mushroom Capitol of the World, which he attributed to establishment closures

and residents staying at home to drink. Also, in Kennett Square, like West Chester, vehicle crashes were down.

“Less people were out and more people were home,” Holdsworth said.

Caln Police Department Chief Joseph Elias said that early on, reportable traffic crashes were down, but there were a few more during 2020 than 2019.

In Caln, Part 1 crimes

such as assault, rape, robbery, theft and arson were down 37 percent for 2020. Part 2 crimes such as petty theft, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, criminal mischief and fraud were down 23 percent, in 2020, from the previous calendar year.

Corporal Josh Whisler said Caln officers followed CDC protocols to wash hands, wear masks and socially distance, with screenings for officers and the public upon entrance. No Caln officers have contracted COVID-19.

West Goshen Police Department Chief Michael Carroll received a scare early on, during the first week of March 2020, when

four officers were forced to quarantine after exposure to a Montgomery County K-9 handler with COVID-19, at a nursing home bomb scare. All the men tested negative. A couple of different West Goshen officers later tested positive.

The department limited contact by proactively splitting officers into two teams that never mixed, for two months.

Call volume was slower in West Goshen. Traffic enforcement was limited, medical calls were handled when possible emergency providers, unless required, and training was cut back, partly since it was often not offered.

“We are slowly coming

back to normal,” Carroll said. “Our officers did a phenomenal job adjusting and made all necessary changes, while prioritizing how to respond to calls and emergencies.”

Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said that some crimes were hidden and crime still does occur.

“Fewer reports of child abuse in the past year are directly due to the pandemic because children have been out of sight of their teachers, daycare providers, coaches, and others – all of whom are mandated reporters. Mandated reporters are required by law to report child abuse.

“We didn’t prosecute as many cases in 2020 because jury trials were stopped between March and August, then again from December to February. But that’s not to say that crime didn’t still happen because it did, most definitely. Arrests in 2020 included eight people for sex trafficking; a woman for setting a multimillion dollar fire that displaced 100 people in North Coventry; a mother and her boyfriend for the horrific abuse of a 9-year-old child; and many other drug dealers, child molesters, and thieves.

“The pandemic may have brought everyday life to a standstill, but it didn’t slow down criminals.”