By Gavin S. Griffin, Co-Editor and WSJ Politics & Government Correspondent
& Flynn A. Kirvan, WSJ Social Issues Correspondent
Over the past few years, the United States has seen a significant rise in crime. In cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia there have been general upticks in murders, assaults, robberies, and other forms of violent criminal activity. The causes of this increase are not entirely known, and for many cities a solution has yet to be found.
New York City in particular has seen a massive increase in crime recently, an issue which Mayor Eric Adams has made priority number one. He has created new initiatives to help combat crime, particularly since 5 NYPD cops have been shot and killed while on duty so far this year. Overall, rates of most crimes are up significantly from last year in the greater New York City area, with murder up 33%, robbery up 51%, and shootings up 150% according to the NYPD website’s CompStat statistics.
In Pennsylvania, many cities have also been impacted by this increase in crime. For example, on January 24, 2022, the son of a Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed, just one of nearly 87 homicides in Philadelphia this year, a 10% increase from 2021. Gun violence has been a big issue there as well, with 272 injured and 73 killed. Pittsburgh has also seen a dramatic spike, with the current murder rate there at nearly 3 times the national average. Additionally, Erie has been hit with a significant rise across the board, with the highest increases in assaults and burglaries.
Though this has been felt mostly in bigger cities, even rural areas are not immune to the problem. Franklin and Oil City have both reported an uptick in many crimes as well.
Titusville has seen a shift in certain crimes recently, especially following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “There was definitely a big drop in our numbers, and that was then followed by an increase in narcotics related incidents,” Said Titusville Police Chief Dustin LeGoullon. He added that with different sources of income during that time, “people suddenly had money, and that big increase in funding for them drove our narcotics calls through the roof.” For years, narcotics have been a tough crime to fight for the TPD, though the creation of a Narcotics Detective position looks to crack down on the issue.
So, how can Cities and the nation improve policing and decrease rates of crime in 2022? The answer may come in the form of community engagement and more police presence to deter criminal activity. In Titusville, the police have worked for years to create a good relationship with the city’s residents through community events and daily engagement, and they believe this approach has helped greatly in fighting crime in Titusville. Chief LeGoullon said many criminals go out of the city limits to conduct their illegal activity, which is evident of the Police Department’s effectiveness so far.
Some officials, Democrat and Republican alike, have called for more funding for police departments in larger cities, as well as a shift in focus on increasing police presence on the streets. This nationwide rise in crime has left many questions unanswered, and so far a solution has yet to be found.
If you have any comments or questions for your local police department, please feel free to contact School Resource Officer Dave Brooks at sro@gorockets.org.
The Walnut Street Journal 
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