Community Policing and Forensics: Using a Local DNA Database to Reduce Crime

Police chiefs are expected to lower crime, improve community relations, and manage their departments to protect civilians in their jurisdictions—all while facing budgetary constraints. The Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, Police Department (PD) is faced with the same challenges as police departments across the United States. When faced with these challenges, Bensalem took an out-of-the-box approach that has led to a 42 percent drop in property crimes in just over four years. The U.S. average drop in property crimes has been just 4.2 percent during the same time period.