John Fetterman Claims He Was ‘Very Successful’ in Reducing Crime as He Oversaw Crime Surge

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), running against Dr. Mehmet Oz for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, says he was “very successful” in reducing crime as he oversaw a crime surge while mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania.

During a town hall in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Fetterman claimed he was “very successful in reducing, in driving crime down substantially” in Braddock and touted that the small town of fewer than 1,800 residents “went five and a half years in town without a homicide.”

Fetterman, who served as Braddock mayor from 2006 through 2018, oversaw crime surges as well as a declining population despite repeatedly promising to attract new residents and revitalize the area.

Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shows violent crime, specifically, began spiking between 2013 and 2018. In 2017, violent crime peaked as the number of reports to local police quadrupled compared to 2006.

Similarly, robberies in the area surged in 2017 along with property crimes, burglaries, larceny-theft, and motorcycle vehicle theft. All property crimes saw a surge from 2017 through 2019.

In most cases, crime in Braddock actually dropped back down to its historical levels after Fetterman left the mayor’s office to become the state’s lieutenant governor.

Braddock’s crime rate, according to City-Data.com, is higher than nearly 60 percent of American cities. In 2019, the first year in over a decade that Fetterman was not mayor, the town’s crime rate dropped by 61 percent.

While Fetterman has long vowed to be a voice for forgotten American towns and cities, gutted by globalization and free trade, the town of Braddock saw a declining population while he was mayor.

In the year 2000, Braddock was home to almost 3,000 residents. By 2010, that population had declined by nearly 26 percent. In 2020, Braddock’s population hit fewer than 1,800 residents.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.