Morning Headlines: A Rise in Lower Merion Crime

Surely even the most brazen burglar wouldn’t dare to steal from Woodmont.

Perhaps the only good to come out of these freezing days is that burglars feel it too. That’s what police superintendent Michael J. McGrath surmises given that the upswing in Lower Merion break-ins took place in July last year.

It’s the third consecutive year, according to statistics made public by Lower Merion police, to see a rise in burglaries in that area. Break-ins typically occurred during daytime hours and police believe they’re the result of drug prices going up.

Numbers for the last three years in Lower Merion burglaries:

256 residential and commercial burglaries occurred within the township’s 24 square miles in 2013. That’s up from 2012, when there were 195 burglaries and from 2011’s total of 185.

Scary stuff, to be sure.

But the Inquirer’s Carolyn Davis looks to history for some reassurance regarding Lower Merion crime: “At least it’s not 1980.”

The recorded number of burglaries that year? 953.

On that note, let’s move onto other news…

• One year later: West Philly High School sale still pending [Philadelphia City Paper]

• Why one Philly property mogul won’t invest in the city [Philly.com]

• Changing Skyline: Old City’s quirky retail zone turns a corner [the Inquirer]

• Here’s a list of the 10 most-trafficked City of Philadelphia websites [Technical.ly Philly]

• Community leaders discuss the power of planning at Philadelphia2035 update [PlanPhilly]