D.A. HOGAN TOUTS ZERO HOMICIDE RATE IN 2019
WEST CHESTER >> The year 2018 rang out with the tragic news that a 56-year-old woman had been strangled to death in an East Nottingham home on Dec. 29, just two days before the end of the calendar year.
But since then, no homicides have been reported in Chester County, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a news release there had been no murders in the first six months of 2019, “a testament to good policing, good medical care, and good luck.
“News from the world of criminal justice is often negative, about crimes committed and people arrested. It is refreshing to announce good news instead,” said Hogan in the new release.
East Coventry Police Chief Bill Mossman, quoted in the release, gave credit to the adoption of positive policies the municipal police departments in the county had begun using in the past several years that bring officers closer to the residents they serve — in some cases then preventing violence before it occurs and ends in someone’s death.
“Chester County law enforcement has embraced the concept of community policing,” said Mossman, who acts as the president of the Chester County Police Chiefs Association. “We try very hard to get to know the people we serve and to develop good re
lationships. It is those relationships and the willingness of our citizens to interact with us, and partner with us, in our crime fighting efforts that sets Chester County apart from other regions that struggle with crime prevention.”
According to the DA’s release, in 2018 there were 13 homicides in the county. The last of those came Dec. 30 with the death of 56-year-old Anna Johnson of Oxford. She was allegedly killed by an acquaintance, Daniel Proffit of Lancaster County, who told police that he had strangled Johnson after she attacked him with a butcher’s knife. He is currently incarcerated in Chester County Prison awaiting trial.
The release called the 13
homicides “about average” for the county, and cited an 84 percent clearance rate — meaning that the vast majority of the crimes had been “solved” through arrests.
Hogan, however, asked the public to compare the county’s 2018 homicide rate with that of Philadelphia, where he said 351 murders had occurred in 2018, with a clearance rate of below 50 percent.
“While Chester County has recorded no homicides in the first six months of 2019, Philadelphia is on pace to surpass their homicide total for 2018, with the homicide rate up over 10 percent than at the same time as last year,” said Hogan, in what appeared as a swipe against the city and its Democratic prosecutor, District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Hogan’s comparison did not take into account the
large disparity in the two counties, not the difference in levels of poverty and urban areas between the two. Nor did he compare the county’s homicide rates with neighboring suburban counties. In 2017, for example, Chester County recorded 12 homicides, while Bucks County recorded 11, Delaware County recorded 45, and Montgomery County recorded 10, according to the state police’s Uniform Crime Statistics Report.
Chester County is the smallest of the five counties in southeastern Pennsylvania in terms of population, ranking behind Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware, according to the latest census figures.
Kate Delano, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said on July 3 that her office showed that in 2019, there had been 12
homicides recorded in the first six months of the year, compared to 14 in 2018. She said the county had a clearance rate of 93 percent over the past 10 years.
Delano declined to speculate on where the county would end up on Dec. 31 in term of the murder rate. “Who knows what will happen in the next six months,” she said.
Hogan, who two days after touting the zero murder rate announced that he was withdrawing from the race for county district attorney, credited multiple factors for the lack of homicides.
First, there are anticrime initiatives such as Operation Silent Night in Coatesville that targets drug and gun arrests, and predictive tool used by the police to anticipate extreme cases of domestic violence and protect the victim before a homicide
occurs. Then, he cited the county’s advanced medical services as also playing a role, most notably the Paoli Hospital Trauma Center, where potential homicides become attempted homicides because of skilled surgical intervention for victims.
The third factor in the county’s homicide rate is simply good luck,” he said. “As Chief Mossman noted, “We know that we can’t go forever without another homicide. But Chester County law enforcement believes that the harder we work, the luckier we get.”
“Preventing a homicide takes planning and hard work,” said District Attorney Hogan. “But every life we save spares some family from a tragedy. And we would rather spend our time and money on preventing a homicide than the enormous expense of investigating, prosecuting, and
incarcerating a murderer.”
Deborah Ryan, Hogan’s Democratic opponent in the DA’s race until his withdrawal, paid tribute to the work done by police in keeping the homicide rate in the county low.
“In the last six months, we have seen zero homicides in Chester County because of the impressive efforts of Chester County law enforcement,” she said. “I applaud their achievement and am thankful that these brave men and woman place their lives on the line for us every day. I am proud of my long, collaborative history with law enforcement.
“As District Attorney, I will foster this relationship based on mutual respect, support, integrity, transparency and a commitment to protecting our community.”
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.