Bucks County’s Increase in Carjackings and Vehicle Theft
With the number of stolen vehicles increasing over 100 percent in Philadelphia alone, the influx of crime has also found its way into many of the major city’s surrounding neighborhoods in recent months. Just this past September, Kerri Hampshire of Northeast Philadelphia was returning to her car after a walk at Benjamin Rush State Park around 6 p.m., when she realized her car windows had been shattered. Upon further inspection, Kerri found that her vehicle had been burglarized as well. “I was super upset. I cried a little. I was just having a good day, and it was just heart wrenching to come to my car broken into,” she said. In the end, the thieves made off with Hampshire’s purse, wallet, credit cards, cash, and personal items. The losses totaled over $1,000. Kerri Hampshire’s experience is unfortunately becoming a much more normal occurrence. Recent numbers from The National Insurance Crime Bureau show that car thefts in the U.S. rose 17 percent from 2019 to 2021. On top of this, carja...