A Great Day in Deathlehem
When many people gather to live together in close proximity, it is inevitable that there will be crime. Such holds true for the Lehigh Valley, where the most urban areas have a pressing problem with a rise in gang activity and the violent crime that is coupled with it. Crime is not only a serious concern for the safety of people like us already living in the Lehigh Valley, but it is a potential problem as it lowers the quality of life and reduces the attractiveness of the area to families, workers, and prospective students of the nearby universities. Distinguishing the Lehigh Valley as an area increasingly prone to crime is the fact that it lies within two driving hours of the major metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and New York City. While the externalities from these cities’ crime activity are responsible for a significant portion of the crime in the valley, they are not the cause of all of it.
The most consistent and comprehensive source for crime data required for an accurate assessment is obtained through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI sorts crime data into eight indices, which are the acts “considered most likely to be reported to police and, as a result, are used nationally as a basis for comparison of criminal activity. The offenses are murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft, motor-vehicle theft and arson,” (Pennsylvania State Police). These principal crimes are then divided into two subcategories: violent crimes and property crimes. Violent crimes include the offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, while property crimes are the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. The counts of crime are normalized for comparison across cities by computing their rate per 100,000 residents. These categories will be the basis for a majority of the crime assessment in this article, but it is important to take into account that the data may be less than the actual number of crimes, as not all crimes committed are reported to police.
The general state of crime in the Lehigh Valley can be assessed by looking at the three major cities in the area: Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Allentown and Bethlehem have increasing or steady levels of violent crime in recent years, while Easton has seen a drop. Furthermore, while Bethlehem and Easton have maintained violent and property crime rates below the state and national average, Allentown has not.
In fact, the number of murders in Allentown has more than quadrupled from 5 in 1980 to 21 in 2007. Forcible rapes, robberies and aggravated assault have all increased as well, prompting the total number of violent crimes in Allentown to jump from 321 in 1980 to 870 in 2007. This is a troubling 171% increase in only 27 years, approximately a 6.3% increase per year. If this trend continues, it is projected that there will be 1074 violent crimes committed in Allentown in 2010.
Unfortunately, this trend has been echoed by the city of Bethlehem. While the number of reported rapes has remained relatively constant since 1999, murders, robberies and assaults have increased. As shown in the table, the total of violent crimes has not increased steadily, but has increased from 227 in 1999 to 270 in 2007. Data for the year 2006 and 2008 has not yet been made available by the FBI.
Year Murder Rape Robbery Assault Total Violent Crime
1999 3 21 84 119 227
2000 3 13 93 113 222
2001 4 14 76 155 249
2002 2 31 98 114 245
2003 1 20 94 75 190
2004 1 24 83 115 223
2005 2 17 114 135 268
2006 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
2007 6 24 100 140 270
(Violent Crime in the City of Bethlehem)
Property crimes should also be considered when evaluating the current crime situation in the Lehigh Valley. Following the trend of violent crimes, the total number of reports of property crimes has increased in Allentown in recent years, from 4,946 in 1999 to 5,379 in 2007. This is largely due to an increase in the number of burglaries and larceny-thefts cases; the reported number of burglaries in Allentown has increased 20% since 1999, while the number of larceny-theft cases has increased 7%.
Contrary to Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton have seen a decrease in the total number of Property Crimes since 1999. Cases of burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson in Bethlehem have all fallen since 1999, at 10%, 3%, and 46%, respectively. In Easton, however, only cases of burglary and larceny-theft have decreased in recent years. While these crimes have seen 46% and 12% drops, motor vehicle thefts and arson cases have risen 47% and 30% since 1999.
With homeland security receiving an increasing amount of press in recent years, it is understandable that there has been less attention focused on local crime. For example, on Governor Rendell’s website, even though he is the head of The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, there is nothing listed under his agenda pertaining to making Pennsylvania a safer place to live or working to decreasing crime rates. This does not do justice to the fact that many long-term residents of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley are concerned that crime is taking over their towns. In a quality-of-life poll conducted by The Morning Call, more than 54% of respondents said that they believe life in Lehigh Valley is getting worse, up from 48% in 2007 (Drobnyk). This is significant because crime has a direct influence on residents’ judgment of the quality of life in the area. Furthermore, only 25% of residents in the Lehigh and Northampton counties surveyed in 2008 said that they think life in the Lehigh Valley is getting better. This is the lowest percentage since The Morning Call began its annual quality-of-life poll in 2003. Even though 81% of people gave local law enforcement a rating of excellent or good, nearly 33% of residents polled by The Morning Call said they are very concerned with becoming a victim of crime. This figure has been rising steadily over the past five years, as less than 20% of residents said the same in 2003 (Drobnyk). If the Lehigh Valley wants to continue attracting families and workers into its community and economy, then it needs to tackle the issue of crime to remain an attractive place to live.
Furthermore, it is widely acknowledged that, like Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley cities have struggled with crime in recent years. Despite Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton having lower crime rates in every front in 2007, Allentown tied its record high in homicides in 2007 with 21, and Easton and Bethlehem have seen an increase in gang activity. This rise in Easton and Bethlehem is definitely a concern, because gangs have the ability to easily migrate from city to city depending on how much pressure they are receiving from the law enforcement agents there. Thus, as Bethlehem Police Lt. Robert Righi, who serves as head of his department’s criminal investigations unit, reports, “[gang activity has] become more of a regional issue rather than a local issue,” (Falsone). Consequently, it is crucial that all of the Lehigh Valley support efforts against the infiltration of such activity into the region, and be open to changes in policing strategies, especially as the dynamic of the valley changes.
For upperclassmen at Lehigh, you may remember that in 2006 the announcement of the construction of a new Casino in Bethlehem was met by mixed feelings. While some argued that it would stimulate the lagging local economy, others saw it as a catalyst for increased gang activities and violent crimes. While there is justification for both sides of the argument, it is irrefutable that, historically, casinos have had connections with organized crime. One study analyzed crime data collected from all 3,165 U.S. counties from 1977 to 1996 by looking at local crime rates before and after casinos opened. The study found that crime began to rise after the first year, slowly at first and then at an increasing rate. Crime continued to rise until it had easily surpassed what it would have been if the casino had never opened. “By the fifth year of operation, robberies were up 136%; aggravated assaults, 91%; auto theft, 78%; burglary, 50%; larceny, 38%; and rape, 21%. Controlling for other factors, 8.6% of property crimes and 12.6% of violent crimes were attributed to casinos,” (Morrin). Furthermore, the conductor of the study found that “crime rates didn’t rise in neighboring counties while they soared in casino counties – [which is] evidence that casinos create crime locally and don’t merely attract it from somewhere else,” (Morrin). Despite these published findings, the casino is scheduled to open by 2009. In an attempt to assuage a rise in crime, Bethlehem should increase the number of officers on patrol in the area around the casino, if not assign one officer to be stationed there permanently. The town should also make sure that the casino employs legitimate security personnel to assist in the local police department’s efforts to mitigate crime, and encourage a continuous exchange of information.
“On the [national] political front, crime has fallen way behind issues such as Iraq, health care and gas prices, not to mention the meltdown of our financial system,” (Jones). The United States’ economy has now entered a recession, and in times of negative economic growth people are more likely to be unemployed, become desperate, and resort to criminal activity. Elected officials, police and community members need to take an active role in protecting their Lehigh Valley communities, such as South Bethlehem, and provide a safe environment for all residents. The Lehigh Valley is a unit, and “Allentown’s problem today could be Easton’s problem tomorrow” (Falsone). It is thus imperative that the Lehigh Valley as a whole takes the initiative and continues to not tolerate crime.
Works Cited
¬Callaway, Brian. “Lehigh County may help pay for more police: Executive Cunningham wants to give $1 million to localities to fight crime.” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Washington: 12 February 2008.
Drobnyk, John. “Optimism tanking: Valley residents have deep concerns about crime, the economy.” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Washington: 16 May, 2008.
Falsone, Nick. “The battleground: Gangs rooted in NYC; shared intelligence key to fighting back.” The Express Times. 2 June 2003.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Uniform Crime Reports.”
Jones, Ashby. “Crime Hasn’t Dropped as Much as Our Interest in Talking About It.” The Wall
Street Journal. 2 October 2008.
Office of the Governor. “Governor Rendell’s Agenda.”
Morrin, Richard. “Casinos and Crime: The Luck Runs Out.” The Washington Post. 11 May 2006.
NBC 10. “Residents Say ‘Best Place to Live’ Title No Longer Applies.” 19 August 2008.
Pennsylvania State Police. “Crime Index Offenses Drop 2.2% In 2007: Overall Number of Crimes Reported in Pennsylvania Also Decrease.” Harrisburg: 9 October 2008.
