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The University City District has released its monthly crime update, which provides statistics on serious crimes in the area, such as aggravated assaults, robberies (armed and not armed), and burglaries. In October, 39 robberies, aggravated assaults and residential burglaries were reported in the area, and nine arrests were made in these cases, according to the report.

The report shows a sharp increase in residential burglaries – from five in July to over 20 per month in the period from August to October. This is also higher than in the fall of 2012-2014 when from 10 to 15 burglaries were reported monthly. The map shows an increase in burglaries in the western edge of the district.

Some good news is that after last month’s arrest of a suspect in connection with a string of burglaries in Powelton Village, crime numbers have fallen dramatically in that area.

Here are also useful tips from UCD on protecting your porch or residence:  Continue Reading

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According to a University City District (UCD) crime update released last week, 43 serious crimes were reported in the boundaries that UCD covers in January, including five gunpoint robberies, three unarmed robberies, two aggravated assaults with a gun, and four residential burglaries. There were also multiple thefts from cars last month, according to the report.

Three arrests were made last month – one in connection to a robbery, and two for an aggravated assault. Most of the crimes were concentrated between 41st and 49th Streets (see the map).  Continue Reading

The University City District has issued a special crime alert for the area residents due to a high number of armed robberies reported in the western edge of the neighborhood in the past 10 days. Ten robberies with a gun have been reported since Saturday, Jan. 21, mostly occurring between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. in the areas between Chester Avenue and Pine Street and 47th and 49th.

Here are dates, times, locations and some more details for robberies reported in the past week (via Spot Crime):

− Jan. 27, 8:28 p.m. – 4800 block of Sansom St.
− Jan. 27, 9:06 p.m. – 800 block of S. 49th St.
− Jan. 28, 8:14 a.m. – 900 block of S. 46th St.
− Jan. 28, 9:11 p.m. – S. 49th St. and Springfield Ave. A wallet, iPhone, and headphones were taken in this robbery. Suspects are described as three black males 18-21 years old, wearing jackets and jeans.  Continue Reading

Map Source: University City District (click to enlarge).

Crime dropped in the University City District (The Schuylkill River to 50th Street, Spring Garden Street to Woodland Avenue) last year in comparison to 2011, according to a report issued this week. Specifically, this concerns such crimes as unarmed robberies (down by 30%), aggravated assaults (down by 35%), and residential burglaries (down by 36%).

One area though is a cause for concern – the number of auto thefts dramatically increased in 2012 – by 43%, from 100 to approximately 150 incidents. The UCD is asking residents and visitors to “use common sense when parking or leaving your car for the night” and “make sure you lock up and remove any valuable objects from plain sight.”

Other serious crimes, like armed robberies and thefts from automobiles have slightly decreased (by 6% and 9% respectively). There are still about 100 robberies with a gun per year and almost 250 thefts from cars in the neighborhood (see photo below).

In January, 2013, 18 serious crimes were committed within the University City District boundaries (see the map) and three related arrests have been made, according to the report.

To sign up for UCD’s monthly Crime Update please email: mark@universitycity.org

A neighbor, Vinicio Guevara, snapped this photo last Sunday, at the corner of 44th and Spruce. One of the windows was smashed and a stereo was stolen from this car.

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Forty-two crimes were reported in the University City area in September and nine arrests were made, according to this month’s UCD Crime Update. The number of robberies and armed robberies was down in comparison to the report published in April 2019, but the number of thefts from automobiles remained high since May.

Three gunpoint robberies were reported last month – at 49th and Hazel, 43rd and Chester and 32nd and Powelton (see map). An arrest was made in the Powelton robbery. Unarmed robberies took place at 41st and Walnut and 38th and Market, according to the report.

As for car break-ins and thefts from cars, 14 cases were reported in September in the area, and two arrests were made. There were also seven reports of stolen vehicles.  Continue Reading

There has been an uptick in thefts from cars in the area, according to police, with the most recent cases reported in the area of 41st and Market and 40th and Ludlow Streets. Thieves got entry inside cars by breaking windows, according to police.

In a recent tweet, Matthew Gillespie, the Commanding Officer of the 18th Police District, which covers West Philadelphia neighborhoods south of Market Street, reminded area residents and visitors who park their cars on the streets to take all their belongings from their vehicle:  Continue Reading