You don't need to wonder, crime is increasing in Everybody's Hometown.

Have you heard about the "Crime Culture" in Media that was mentioned by Mayor Bob McMahon as contributing factor for a crime increase over the last 5 years?  You probably haven't, and I didn't either until I looked at the Media Borough Council meetings closely over the last 12 months.  They are all posted to Youtube should you have the desire to see what's going on in the borough.

What started all of this was a mention that the Media Borough Police Department received 863 complaints for the month of May 2017.  That's considerably higher than the 500 - 600 complaints I'm use to hearing over the years.  Now, Mayor McMahon doesn't really define what a "complaint" is, so it's extremely vague.  He also doesn't disclose any categorization of the complaints, so it's not possible to tell if traffic complaints are increasing or decreasing over say, barking dogs.   Without that context, it's hard to determine what really is increasing.

Below is a chart of the complaints received by the Media Police Department as reported by Mayor McMahon each month going back to Jan 2016.  There is some missing data due to the mayor not being in attendance, or in one case a Youtube video wasn't posted of the meeting.

It's also interesting as we've seen some notable crime happening in Media this year too.  Now there's a lot more that goes on in the borough that I cover or even know about, but what's important here is the situational awareness.

March 2017 - Here are more details on the convicted and sentenced Media child rapist.

April 2017 - Robbery, Theft, Receiving Stolen Property, and Simple Assault in the vicinity of Third and Orange Streets

May 2017 -  Media Pharmacies draw crime

July 2017 - Per Media Borough Police Department "Numerous investigations and arrests for serious offenses to include Aggravated Assault" at Barrall Field and Media Elementary Scott-Lowrie Playground are now requiring the Media Police to enforce Borough Curfew Ordinances.

August 2017 - Media Borough Police Department report armed robbery of Murray Overhill Pharmacy on State Street. This is the second time since May police activity was needed.

Here's the problem: Media Borough Council can go the extra length to notify residents via mail about purchasing land for a pocket park, but when it comes to something like "Criminal Culture" and the increase we've seen in just this year alone; they say and do NOTHING.

The people of this community aren't too busy to see crime is on the upswing.  They ponder it, discuss it with their neighbors and comment about it on this site.  What we're not seeing is a commitment by borough officials to make this town the safest it can be.  If Media Police need additional resources to make that happen, then let's hear a strategy to achieve that.  Hundreds of thousand of dollars for a park can wait.