Avery-Stoss WILKES-BARRE — The Institute’s 2024 Indicators Report found that public safety data may be used to evaluate the health and efficiency of safety services and evaluate crime trends that affect quality of life.
According to Jill Avery-Stoss, Chief Operating Officer at The Institute, these indicators cover issues such as property crime, violent crime, and offenses against families and children.
They also cover the composition of public safety workers such as police officers and firefighters.
Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. These incidents largely consist of aggravated assaults, and they have maintained a downward trend in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Property crimes include burglary, larceny theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. These incidents largely consist of larceny theft, and they have also maintained a downward trend.
Property crimes like burglary and theft are often associated with drug addiction. Although drug abuse offenses had been on the rise for most of the last decade, the last few years have brought decreases in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties and in Pennsylvania overall.
Avery-Stoss said juvenile arrests and school misconduct incidents are monitored as well, but these numbers have fluctuated in the years since 2019. No clear trends have emerged. Most recently, school misconduct incidents have increased in Luzerne County and Pennsylvania but they have decreased in Lackawanna and Wayne Counties.
“We also collect data on offenses against families and children, which appear to have declined in recent years,” said Avery-Stoss. “It is important to note that these offenses are often under-reported. Isolation resulting from school and workplace closures during the height of COVID likely worsened this issue.”
The same is true for reported incidents of domestic violence. Data has revealed decreasing offenses but cannot account for incidents that have not been reported.
Furthermore, Avery-Stoss said some aspects of domestic violence — such as financial and emotional abuse — are not considered criminal despite their negative impact on family dynamics, mental and physical health, academic and workplace performance, and overall community well-being.
Avery-Stoss said public safety departments often rely on part-time workers and volunteers.
There are almost 1,000 municipal police officers employed in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wayne Counties. The share of part-time police officers in this region is larger than the share for Pennsylvania as a whole, however, and 38% of the municipalities in Northeastern Pennsylvania use State Police coverage rather than municipal police forces.
Avery-Stoss said many municipalities have reported challenges with recruiting officers, given the current workforce environment. There has been some growth in the number of full-time officers, but increases in part-time officers are greater.
“There has also been shift toward regional policing, which is good for long-term sustainability,” added Avery-Stoss. “Broader regionalization will likely improve police coverage.”
Fire departments face similar difficulties. In 2023 there were 3,524 volunteer firefighters in the three-county region — a decrease from the prior year. They comprise about 87% of the area’s total firefighting force.
Avery-Stoss said a heavy reliance on volunteerism is notable, given the roles firefighters fill in the community.
“They do not simply extinguish fires,” Avery-Stoss said. “In many cases they are also first respondents to traffic accidents, medical emergencies, and other crisis situations.”
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