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Crime & Safety

Crime in Radnor Down, Numbers Say

The Radnor Police Department Issued a Crime Report on October 10.

Crime in Radnor has dropped modestly over the past year, according to a report released by the Radnor Police Department earlier this month.

Despite a series of high-profile robberies—several of which remain under investigation—the department indicated that there were the same number of robberies, nine fewer thefts, 13 fewer burglaries, and nine fewer assaults through October of 2011 than October of 2010.

Police superintendent Bill Colarulo and sergeant Andy Block told Patch they hope the report will quiet concerns that local crime has been on the rise.

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Colarulo acknowledged that while the robberies that occurred in the township in 2011 carried more potential for violence than those of 2010—he cited the , , and robberies as such instances—he said any notion of an increase in crime is more perception than reality. In his role as superintendent though, he has to tend to both.

"You have to deal with perception," he said. "If people don't feel safe, I can show them all the statistics in the world, and they still won't feel safe."

Find out what's happening in Radnorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"There's has been a slight increase in violent crime," he conceded, but reiterated that overall crime has dropped.

There have been four armed robberies in Radnor Township since January, two more than through the same period last year. But Colarulo said that more so than these facts on the ground, the department's transparency been what's fuelled worry.

"When a violent incident occurs, we want the public to be aware, but [in doing so] you do risk people getting alarmed," he said.

In the interest of safety, he said, the department goes out of its way to share what they know with the public, the result of which is often "people thinking 'What's going on in Radnor?'"

"Our purpose isn't to alarm people," he emphasized, "but to keep them aware and mindful."

Though the superintendent resisted comparison to other municipalities—"You can't really compare us to Upper Darby," he said—he said that Radnor is, relatively, safer than most places.

His position is supported by the facts. Of state municipalities with over 30,000 residents, only Berks-Lehigh Regional, Haverford Township, Lower Makefield Township, and Mount Lebanon had a lower total incidence of violent crime in 2010 than Radnor.

According to the Oct. 10 report, the criminal area of sharpest decline for the township was theft from automobile, which fell from 66 in 2010 to 42 in 2011. (Though Block admitted a recent rash of thefts from automobile threaten to flatten the drop.) The only area of substantial increase was theft from building, which jumped from 70 to 89.

The broadly positive report comes with a caveat though: in 2011, the worst is still ahead.

"Traditionally the last quarter of the year is our busiest, given that we're going into the holiday season," said Block. "You see more theft from vehicles, more retail theft, more people out. We just try to be proactive in dealing with it."

Proactivity, both Block and Colarulo agreed, is the key to crime control.

"It's extremely important to report crime," Colarulo said, asking residents who witness any such behavior to, even if unsure of its significance, call 911.

"A lot of crimes have been solved because people called in and reported something they thought was no big deal," he said.

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