Mt. Laurel sees slight drop in crime in 2013

The end-of-the year Uniform Crime Report released by the State Police revealed very little change in the amount of crime in Mt. Laurel in 2013.

According to the report, crime dropped 0.6 percent from 2012. There were 864 crime incidents in 2012, and 859 reports of crime in 2013.

The drop is a much-improved number from the statistics revealed at mid-year. From January 2013 to June 2013, crime increased by 11.1 percent when compared to those six months of the previous year. Those numbers dropped significantly in the second half of the year.

The biggest reason the township didn’t see a larger drop in crime was an increase in burglary. Overall, burglary was up 11.1 percent in 2013, with 151 total reports. Forcible entry and attempted forcible entry both saw increases, while unlawful entry remained flat.

Lt. Judy Lynn Schiavone from the Mt. Laurel Police Department said advisories are sent to residents each year about protecting their home against burglaries.

“We do try to get the message out to make sure you leave a light on, make sure you lock your car doors, make sure to secure your belongings, make sure you activate your alarm,” she said.

Schiavone said a lot of burglary cases happen because a resident forgets one of these steps and leaves a door unlocked or something unsecured, leading to a crime being committed.

“Residential burglaries are of the utmost importance in this town,” she said.

The only other category where Mt. Laurel experienced an increase was in larceny — theft. Larceny was up slightly at 1.1 percent.

Robberies in the township saw a decrease, from 18 in 2012 to 13 in 2013. However, Burlington County as a whole suffered from a sudden spike of bank robberies at the end of 2013.

“We had a little bit of an influx in bank robberies at the end of the year,” Schiavone said.

Schiavone acknowledged the bank robbery spike was more of a countywide issue and not necessarily one affecting specifically Mt. Laurel.

“It was more countywide,” she said. “It was just very incidental.”

Analysis of the crime report is something Mt. Laurel Police take seriously. Schiavone said the police look at all the specific crime categories and do their best to pinpoint what crimes are begin committed and how often.

Communication with the community has become a major component of policing for Mt. Laurel. Schiavone said the department puts out releases throughout the year on specific areas. This can range from theft and drunk driving advisories around the holidays to periodic aggressive driving notices. In addition, the department releases a detailed police blotter on its website and communicates with the public in some cases through social media.

Mt. Laurel Police have also made statistical analysis a large part of their crime-fighting. Schiavone said the department has the ability to look at neighborhoods and how much crime is being committed in each.

“We have a crime analyst that puts together plotting based off statistics to put together where the hot spots are in town,” she said.

The hope is the use of detailed analysis will allow the police department to fight crime more efficiently in the future.