Report: Philly Crime at Lowest Point in Decades

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Severe crime in Philadelphia – including violent crimes, robberies and property crimes – is at its lowest level since the 1970s, police recently told the Inquirer. 

The news organization reports that 2016 saw the fewest number of violent crimes since 1979, the fewest number of robberies since 1969 and the fewest number of property crimes since 1971. Burglaries were at an all-time-low.

The 2016 numbers are available through city’s uniformed crime reporting data. According to the statistics provided by the police department, violent crime is down 5 percent from last year, which reflects a 1 percent drop in homicide. Property crime, which includes but is not limited to burglary, auto theft and retail theft, just barely decreased.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross told the Inquirer that the decline is presumably the result of improved crime-fighting technology, more efficient patrol strategies and a lower nationwide crime rate, but the the department is still “not happy with the level of gun violence across the city, period.”

As the newspaper pointed out, Philadelphia’s population has decreased since 1979, so the violent crime rate has actually increased since then – from 849 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 1979 to roughly 981 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2016. Still, according to the data, the city’s violent crime rate is at its lowest point since 1984.

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