Crime in Pottstown…

There’s some new Watchdogs in town.

Sometime over the past week, or so, a Facebook Page cropped up called:  

CRIME IN POTTSTOWN.  

Contributions and comments are coming in from everywhere from everyday people who live in Pottstown.  Citizens report gun shots, metal things being stolen from their property, (anything that’s not hooked up or chained up), and even some things that are – like a central a/c compressor someone tried to disconnect and steal – REALLY. 

With lightening speed, Crime in Pottstown has received 230 + “Likes”…   

Yesterday, Crime in Pottstown added a link to a blog post that appeared on SavePottstown in April 2013,  “Crack That Whip”.  

It seems that SavePottstown is taking another hiatus from blogging, (probably a blood pressure related kind of thing)…  

We get it and we advocate taking things nice and easy when it comes to your health – hell – management and council don’t lose a minute of a good nights sleep over crime and debauchery in Pottstown.  

Management doesn’t live here – a hard days work, 8am – 3pm M-F and it’s off to the safe, tidy little enclave before the drug dealers and most of the creeps even wake up to start their “days work”.  Management sleeps well and has no problem with spikes in blood pressure. 

Council, how do they rest?  

Well,  for lack of a better explanation for their insolence…

they must have found a group deal on surgically implanted ear plugs.  Pirate eye patches were “buy one get one free” so, 

they each got two and…

the ginormous gob stoppers that plug their pie holes have lasted almost 4 years!!!  Even longer, in some cases – that’s a real bang for their buck.

Thankfully, there is still PLENTY of useful information on SP’s site to refer back to, as needed, because it never becomes obsolete – different year, same struggles.  In April, they shared this link to a website called:

Crimemapping.com.  

That was a smooth move, SP!!!  Speaking of “smooth moves” I am reminded of this quote from Sharon Valentine, former mayor and current mayor wannabe – again:

“Real leadership,” Valentine-Thomas said, “is being truthful to the masses and truthful to the party leaders. Truth is the new negative in a culture of compromise and adult bullies. Truth is unpopular but much needed – like good vegetables and enemas.”  

At the very least, SP serves up their enemas and veggies with a healthy side of humor, (something that is sorely lacking in local government).  Maybe Sharon was right…a good, group enema could release a lot of pent up B.S. and maybe everyone up there would feel better.   Maybe council can find a  ”group rate” coupon for Fleets all around? 

I’ll hand this much to Sharon though, she got that right about “a culture of compromise and adult bullies…”

There’s nothing like seeing crime stats in black and white to tell the story of the failure of local leaders, (that includes some who like to bully people by way of camouflaging their own reprehensible behaviors) – the following crime states prompted this blog post, one in a long line of posts on this, and other blogs, about crime in the borough:  

Crime in Pottstown put this post up this morning:

“Just for grins we did a search for crime, within 2 miles of borough hall, 100 E. High St. Pottstown. TWENTY TWO CRIMES for the week of 7/16 – 7/22. Assault, theft, multiple public drunkeness/drugs, retail theft – a small snapshot of the daily activity in Pottstown.  

We applied the same parameters to a random sampling of  surrounding communities: 

Boyertown: THREE CRIMES

Royersford:  ZERO

Limerick:  ZERO

Birdsboro: FOUR

Pottstown:  TWENTY TWO

DO YOU THINK WE HAVE A CRIME PROBLEM IN POTTSTOWN?  THE PEOPLE THAT RUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT DON’T ACT LIKE THEY THINK WE DO.

Sources on Facebook also suggest that there are “crime problems in borough hall.” 

Here’s just a smattering of recent conversations sparked by discussions about the state of the borough, sources close to the action have this to say:  

“Slumlords are getting away with murder and the codes department is completely ignored by Flanders. Flanders is a joke. Flanders comes in at 8 leaves by 3.”   hmmm bankers hours and vacations out the wazoo on a salary of $120,000?  We deserve better.  WE DESERVE A FUNCTIONAL, SHARP CODES DEPARTMENT – that’s fo’ sure, and… 

We need a resident borough manager, someone who can feel our pain and will work hard to apply the salve to heal the wounds…

“It Is a management issue in the Police Department too.  The patrolmen are advised from Chief Drumheler and Mark Flanders to be a “paperwork” dept.  not a safety and crime patrol.  It’s deplorable.  And the drug task force is eating up that $3 mil budget in overtime.  The task force, aka: (golden boys) only work 9-5 M-F then do drug sweeps on the weekends for the overtime pay.”  So, essentially only a few cops get the opportunity to collect overtime?  All this overtime yet Drug Dealers STILL RULE the land – so where’s our bang for the buck??   

“And they need to not all take off when its someone’s wedding, backyard BBQ, or weekend vacation cabin party.  Then its left to the patrolmen that are already scrutinized when they do drug stuff.”  Says another commenter… 

What??  That sounds like a Country Club, not a police department!

Why aren’t “all hands on deck” at night when the dealers and druggies and prostitutes haunt the streets and alleys? Why don’t…THE COPS WORK HAND IN HAND WITH THE CODES DEPARTMENT??  So, leaders ENABLE the slumlord criminals and the regular ol’ criminals.  Why would they do that?  It makes no sense. 

There’s much more being said on Facebook, people inside and outside of borough hall sound like they’ve HAD IT up to their eyeballs with stupid pet tricks and bad behavior from local government.  Some are even pushing for an all out investigation…

The dismissive, greedy actions of borough leaders are written on the pages of Pottstown’s distant and immediate history.  It’s written in the crime stats on multiple websites, it’s written in the worn out, run down shabbiness of our community.  One look around speaks volumes. 

  Does Pottstown have a crime problem from the top down?

Tell us what you think…

Every single one of these core values are just words floating in a paper universe – like a far off, distant planet:

The Revised “Core Values” for the Borough of Pottstown – in case you forgot: