November 2018 Newtown Police Report

Interim Police Chief Jason Harris presented the Calls Report for November 2018 at the December 12, 2018, Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting. In November, the Newtown Police Department responded to 1,363 total calls, 263 (19%) of which were in Wrightstown Township (Newtown Police provides services to both Newtown Township and Wrightstown). See a summary of the report below. Note: Not all calls are listed.

Traffic Citations and Struck Deer

There were 99 total traffic citations in Newtown in November 2018. Sixty (60) of those involved speeding, which is a perennial problem of concern to residents. Residents along Swamp Road, for example, have been especially vocal concerning speeding and truck traffic on Swamp Road. In response, Newtown administrators and police asked PennDOT representatives to attend a public BOS meeting on September 12, 2018, to respond to questions and concerns of residents. You can view a video snippet of that session here.

Looking at the citation data to date for 2018, it is obvious that Newtown Police have responded by issuing significant numbers of speeding citations along Swamp Road in September, October, and November. In fact, 38 of the 60 (63%) speeding citations in November were issued to drivers on Swamp Road (see chart below).

Chief Harris cautioned drivers to be aware of deer on the roads and noted that there were 92 traffic accidents in November, 31 of which involved deer. There were 33 such incidents in October 2018 (see chart below).

Shop With a Cop Success!

On December 2, 2018, 35 Newtown Township, Newtown Borough, Middletown Toawnship and Upper Makefield Township police officers spent the day at the Target Store on E. Lincoln Hwy in Langhorne, PA, volunteering in the annual “Shop with a Cop” event.

Shop with a Cop is a national program pairing police officers with children to afford them a better holiday season.  The program allows children to view police officers in a different atmosphere and promote positive relationships. The program’s participants are elementary students from the Council Rock School District and St. Andrews Elementary School.  These children face life challenges such as a parent losing a job, homelessness, military deployment, economic shortcomings, and other hardships.

Over 150 kids were allotted $150.00 gift certificates to purchase gifts for themselves and their family members. The Shop with a Cop program is funded solely through the generosity of our local community’s residents and businesses.

Posted on 13 Dec 2018, 13:47 - Category: Crime