John Livingood, an Abington police spokesman. Some departments have found ways of increasing patrols. Then there are Town Watch, community policing and zero-tolerance programs. State police patrols have contributed to a steep slide in Coatesville's theft rate, borough officials say. In the city of Chester, a state program targeting high-crime communities sent in state police and the National Guard to stop drug trafficking.
Officials there credit the program with last year's decreases in murder, rape and robbery.
In Camden, citizens and police have banded together to strike at drug dealing where it hides. They have sealed 750 empty houses, knocked down 100, and will demolish 300 more next month, which police say has helped bring down all types of crime. We have a bike unit. . . They're so quiet, nobody hears them, and the officer is right there when it happens,'' said Police Chief Albert McCarthy. Hatfield Township, Montgomery County, has a dozen neighborhood watch groups, some of which started decades ago, Police Chief William Stanley said.