State Police Reports Stats for Lower Macungie

Lieutenant Edgardo Colón of the Pennsylvania State Police presented the annual statistics for Lower Macungie Township for Troop M in Fogelsville at the commissioners' June 16 meeting.

“It was a fairly productive and safe township this past year,” he said.  The state police handled 5002 incidents from June 1, 2010 to June 1, 2011.

Major categories and the number of incidents were as follows:

• Burglary – 34
• Thefts – 325
• Crashes – 456
• DUI arrests – 133
• Citations written – 1,702

“There is a continued occurrence of vehicle break-ins (68) in the township,” he noted. 

Most of them happen between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and are generally committed by young people and involve unlocked vehicles, he continued.

Colón recommend residents take the following steps to prevent the thefts:

• Lock vehicles and remove keys
• Remove valuable items, such as lap-tops, GPS units, purses, money and jewelry from vehicles
• Remove the GPS suction cup mounts from window; thieves will think the item is in the glove box

Incidents have been reported in which an unlocked car provides a key right into the home when a violator uses a garage door opener to gain access.

Consequently, Colón said, troopers will usually contact a homeowner if they see a garage door is open after dark, he said.  They will either go to the homeowner’s door or call to remind them to close their garage door.