crime index in Selinsgrove (Bloomsburg, Lewisburg: section 8, house, university)

[storminateacup]

[u]Hi guys. I've been on here before and as you know I am moving to Selinsgrove or Lewisburg this spring. I am very excited but have one question.I am hoping someone maybe Dawne or turbodcart who live there couls answer it. When I look at the crime index on this site it shows Selinsgrove to be 472! National average is 325.Bloomsburg is 130 and Lewisburg is a 61. What is going on in Selinsgrove?Isnt there only a 5 person police force in Selinsgrove? How can there be so much crime? I have been to Selinsgrove and I just don't see it. Can someone help me?

[susquehannock]

Here's a link to a biased article about Selinsgrove that appeared in a national newspaper.

http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/selinsgrove.html

Crime is much higher is Selinsgrove than what is has been posted. There's been several bank robberies by local residents and there's a section 8 housing complex where a lot of crime occurs too.

There was in article in this mornings paper about crime in lewisburg. It's continuing to go down.

[Dawne]

The crimes in Selinsgrove itself are for the most part committed by the transient college students. Most of these involve underage drinking, disturbing the peace, DUI, burglaries and the occasional rape. Last year there was a high number of rapes, but these were "campus" events, perpetrated by students on students.

These figures raise the number of crimes and the crime index, but they aren't something the average citizen really needs to be concerned with.

Lately, in the Snyder County area, there have been some assaults, a bank robbery, some petty thefts, etc. I think you have to take the statistics with a "grain of salt" and realize what's behind them.

At one point my family was considering a move to a tourist town in the south and their crime index was in the 800 range. I made some inquiries and found that the reason was that tourists are the targets of burglaries, pickpockets, etc. Again, the types of crimes skewed the overall index.

I type the minutes for the Selinsgrove Borough Council meetings. I know the councilpersons, the mayor, the borough manager and the chief of police. They are all wonderful people with the best interests of the Borough at heart. There will be some changes to the police force in 2007 that will benefit the community. Also, Susquehanna University has a fairly new (within the past couple years) Director of Public Safety who is doing a fantastic job as far as cracking down on the students to enusre the safety of students and townsfolk alike.

So while the crime index may seem disturbing, unless you live in the few blocks surrounding the college itself you most likely won't be affected in any way.

[turboredcart]

Let me tell you about crime in Selinsgrove.

It doesnt get any better then this.

I never leave lights on to make it seem lived in.

ANY village that has public housing or a univeristy- there will be issues at the town pub. if you look for trouble then you will find it.


The stats are not coverred up. Thats bull.

[turboredcart]

Chief G, happens to be a friend of mine.

You will not find a safer valley. Im shocked by this post.

Life doesnt get any better then this.

If anything- law and order is HARD here.

I grew up in a big city. I LIVED what crime is.
Ild never go back.

It is good that you are doing your homework- but= I think you are grasping at straws on this one.

Ive heard stories about towns where the police dont even come..... where no one reports crime as it does no good.

Beleive you me, we take care of our bad boys!

[susquehannock]

There used to be a big drug dealer who lived across the road from me. There was constant traffic 24/7 and they would blast mariachi and rap music at 3:00AM while sitting in the driveway.

They would throw beer bottles on my property and smash them in my driveway. I was constantly cleaning up broken glass.

I got an idea to take license plate numbers for a month. Even though I know I missed a lot, I still compliled a list of 76 different vehicles.

It was two years of pure hell until they finally moved. The house they lived in was 1/2 of a duplex which was about 3 years old. They completely destroyed the place.

Then another one moved in but he wasn't there long until they hauled his butt off to jail.

[turboredcart]

One bad neighbor can pull teh place down. no doubt. im sorry you had put up with that.

[susquehannock]

Yep, and it was even in an area where one wouldn't expect that type of activity.

We were going to say somethin to T.G. , but it's out of his jurisdiction.

[turboredcart]

An old friend of mine lived in a pricey area- suburban Chicago. it looked prettty== but the spoiled rich kid brats squealing tires and tossing beer cans etc- who do you complain to??

i felt bad for her.

[Dawne]

Originally Posted by susquehannock

We were going to say somethin to T.G. , but it's out of his jurisdiction.

We lived in rural Jackson Township for a while so we didn't have the town police - we had to deal with the State Police. I now realize that at night they often have one officer assigned to each of three different areas of the entire county. If something happens in one sector that needs assistance, the other sectors are basically uncovered for a while.

However, at the time we lived in this rural area I did not know that. If something happened and we called the state police, the standard answer was, "It will be a while." One time we suspected something going on across the creek from our house. A car was stopped along the road and other vehicles would come to it, stop for a while and then leave. We called the state police and got this response: "It will be a while. Can you get any license numbers?" It was dark, so my husband attempted to sneak across the bridge but he didn't feel he could get close enough without being spotted. Of course, by the time the police got there the car was gone.

I know in Selinsgrove itself, when a call is made the officer(s) on duty respond quickly. I was on the jury of a trial that T.G. testified at. I was sooo impressed with the man. This was before I ever met him personally.

Another thought along the lines of crime - most of what happens in this area are things that could be prevented by some homeowner awareness. Around here many people don't lock their doors and many, many don't lock their cars. These are crimes of opportunity. If a burglar encounters a locked door he'll move on to something easier.