2011: Over 16,000 Emergency Calls Made, 13% Increase in Crime in Marple

BROOMALL–"For 2011 for the year, we answered 16,310 calls for service–that's about a 3.5 percent increase over the previous year and it's a trend that we keep going up year after year," announced Chief Tom Murray before the Board of Commissioners at a work session meeting on Monday night.

Murray said crime was up 13 percent in 2011 in comparison to 2010.

"I think it's finally catching up to us," shared Murray. "With the economy being the way it has, we've held our own for the first couple of years but we're finally seeing that increase."

Some good news of 2011: Marple Police Department will receive a $55,000 check for reimbursement for billing of fingerprints.

"We have amassed enough money in that account–it's a separate account that the money goes into. This year, we have been able to pay for maintenance repairs on our live scan machine which is almost $8,000 from that fund, so it's no longer being taken out of the general fund," explained Murray.

Murray said the ultimate goal is to have sufficient funds in that account to replace the live scan machine when it is no longer able to work in the future. The approximate cost of the machine is valued at $75,000 to $80,000.

134% Increase in Drug Offenses in 2011

According to Murray, one of the biggest number of crime incidents in 2011 was the significant increase in the "drug trade." Murray said there was an 134 percent increase in drug offenses during 2011.

"We had 89 drug offenses, which was 51 more than we had the previous year. To make it more understandable, during the previous year, our drug task force was offline for a good portion of the year. So, with them not being actively engaged, those numbers tend to drop off. So, the sky is not falling," explained Murray about the large percentage of drug offenses.

Murray said the drug offenses numbers in 2011 are more in lined with the number of incidents that occurred two years ago with a "modest increase." Many of the incidents have been involving drug possession while a small amount was seen in distribution.

Many of the drug incidents have been involving Heroin, said Murray. Between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 5, 2011, Murray said there were 11 reported deaths involving Heroin overdose. In addition, 13 reported medical emergencies involving Heroin overdose.

"The vast majority of these are young kids–from 16 to 25 years old," said Murray. "It's scary and the experts tell me it's not getting any better. Heroin is very cheap. We're seeing more and more of it, so we'll continue to do what we can. If you know your kids are involved in it, get them help. Because if you don't, the bottom line is that they may be the next statistic."

Number of Business Burglaries a 'Huge Concern'

Murray said what he's particularly concerned about though is the number of burglary incidents that have occurred in . In 2011, Murray said there were 44 burglaries, or 27 more than what the township saw in 2010.

This year, the burglaries have been a combination of residential and businesses but, according to Murray, in the latter part of 2011 "we got hit hard in business burglaries."

"What they were doing was they were going into the office buildings–either secreting themselves in the office building or until it closed–and then helping themselves to the individual businesses within there," explained Murray.

Murray said the individuals would not force themselves into the office business buildings but force their way into the individual office suites within the building.

"We have not had any luck in solving those burglaries," shared Murray. "We thought we had a break but it doesn't look like it's panning out, and that's a huge concern because we actually have responded to alarms at those buildings but we can't gain access. And by not being able to gain access to the building, we don't know whether or not there's a burglary being committed inside."

Murray assured that steps have been taken to gain access to several of the office buildings on Sproul and Paxon Hollow roads that have been hit with recent burglaries.