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Bucks County Police Use Technology to Solve Campaign Sign Crimes

Umito October 30, 2024

The third time thieves stole her Harris-Walz sign last weekend, Phyllis Arnold said she didn’t notice.

She discovered it was missing after a friend told her he found his sign in a dumpster in nearby Chalfont with dozens of other people.

The friend came across the cache of abandoned Democratic presidential ticket signs when he went looking for his stolen Harris-Walz sign, which had an aerial tag allowing him to track its location.

On Monday, Buckingham police confirmed they were investigating four reports of stolen Harris-Walz signs in the past two days, including Arnold’s and the one with the tracking device.

Bucks County police say an uptick in complaints about sign shenanigans is not unusual in the final weeks of the presidential election, and it’s a problem that crosses party lines , with Republicans and Democrats both reporting theft and damage.

In the past, however, there was little law enforcement could do to solve such thefts, which usually occur under the cover of night.

But the proliferation of advanced, affordable technology, such as high-definition camera systems and GPS trackers, now gives police an edge in investigating nuisance crimes and prosecuting criminal offenses, including theft and vandalism.

Last month, Lower Makefield police filed misdemeanor charges of theft and theft of property against a 46-year-old Newtown Township man after he was filmed stealing a large Trump-Vance sign on a lawn.

At least a half-dozen other complaints about stolen or vandalized political signs have been filed this month in Lower Makefield, police said. They include a report of a political sign being set on fire and another where someone defecated on the lawn of a home and covered it with a political sign.

Earlier this month, in neighboring Falls Township, police charged a Bristol man with theft after he was caught stealing a large plywood Trump-Vance sign worth $150 from the Levittown Parkway, near Mill Creek Road.

Two Middletown teenagers were cited last month for tearing down a Harris-Walz flag and toppling a large sign supporting Democratic candidates at a home in Levittown’s Cobalt Ridge neighborhood.

Middletown Lt. Steven Forman, however, said he was not convinced the act was politically motivated. “I got the impression that the miners didn’t care what party the signs belonged to,” he said.

So far this political season, Forman said he hasn’t seen a significant increase in vandalism and theft of political signs compared to previous presidential elections.

“We will receive more complaints after November 5^th on political signs on the side of the road that need to be raised,” he added.

Northampton Township Police received four reports of stolen or vandalized signs.

“Every presidential candidate has been targeted in the same way,” added Northampton Chief Steven LeCompte.

A recent increase in reports of damaged and stolen political signs has prompted Plumstead Township Police And Doylestown Township Police everyone to publish calls for good citizenship online.

Doylestown Township police are also receiving reports of “politically charged phrases” scrawled on municipal property, prompting increased police patrols.

Four years ago, Amy McKenna-Fell and her husband didn’t call the police after someone stole the large Biden-Harris sign they had placed on the lawn of their Buckingham home.

But when thieves targeted their home Saturday night, stealing a half-dozen Harris-Walz lawn signs, including a 4-foot-by-6-foot-tall plywood sign valued at $250, they had enough.

On Monday, the couple filed a police report, McKenna-Fell said.

“It was very helpful. No local (Democratic) politician signs were touched,” McKenna-Fell said. “It’s very angry. It seems like people view the signs as more public than private property.

McKenna-Fell and her husband spent Sunday making a new large sign to replace the stolen one. They also ordered new, smaller lawn signs.

“It’s really unfortunate that it’s come to this,” McKenna-Fell said. “You don’t change someone’s mind who they vote for. You are simply stealing someone’s property.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at [email protected]