City of Seaford car thefts increase during COVID-19 pandemic: report
SEAFORD, Del. – So far this year, there’s been an increase in car theft and domestic violence in Seaford, but no deadly shootings.
The Seaford Police Department says when comparing March 1st to June 1st of 2019 to that same time period in 2020 car theft went up nearly 90 percent. According to Seaford Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Rapa, the pandemic likely played a role in that spike.
“COVID was one of them, jobless rate, and that sense of insecurity and people being complacent when they’re home,” said Rapa.
“With people being shut in and that has certainly increased maybe some of the smaller crime,” said City of Seaford Mayor David Genshaw.
Police are now asking people to lock their cars as a result. They’re also pushing for more street lighting.
But apart from the car thefts, Rapa says domestic violence reports increased by 20 percent since November 2019 likely another result of the pandemic.
“People are social,” said Rapa.
“So, when they don’t get that social interaction there becomes that build-up of feelings and frustration of what’s going on and how do we get through this type deal,” said Rapa.
The good news is when it comes to “part-one crimes,” which includes robbery, burglary, and rape police say they actually saw a 10 percent decrease over the same time period. Looking towards the future, police say they’ve hired more bilingual police officers this year, which will help them fight crime and improve services to immigrant communities.
“We’re going to see an impact on all kinds of crime just because of the culture shift at the police department, their community focus, and being out on the street,” said Genshaw.
The Seaford Police Department says they’re also working on building a website that will show crime rates and much more, which will help improve their transparency with the community.
Rapa says the Seaford Police Department was seven officers short last summer. Now they’re almost full staffed, which will also help tackle crime in the area.
