The Upper Merion Township Police Department responds to far more than reported crimes. Officers conduct traffic stops, provide public assistance, respond to medical emergencies, perform preventive patrols, investigate suspicious activity and handle many other community needs.

However, the township does not currently provide residents with an easily accessible monthly breakdown of that activity.

Using police activity records obtained through Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know process, we have organized more than 5,000 entries into consistent categories and hope to fill that information gap.

Each month, we will add the latest information, compare it with previous reporting periods and help residents better understand the different responsibilities handled by the Upper Merion Township Police Department.

Upper Merion Police recorded 2,540 activity entries from June 1 through June 30.

The department recorded 2,610 entries from July 1 through July 30, a 2.8% jump.

Both periods contain 30 days. July 31 was not included in the records provided, so this comparison uses July 1–30 rather than the complete calendar month.

Traffic and vehicle activity represented the largest category during both months.

The department recorded 572 traffic and vehicle entries in June and 642 in July. That was an increase of 70 entries, or approximately 12.2%.

Traffic and vehicle activity accounted for approximately 22.5% of all June entries and 24.6% of July entries.

This category includes more than vehicle accidents. It can also include traffic stops, parking matters, disabled vehicles, aggressive-driving enforcement, hit-and-run reports and other roadway-related activity.

Public assistance and administrative activity was the second-largest category during both periods.

There were 505 entries in June and 459 in July, a decrease of approximately 9.1%.

This category includes activities such as public-service requests, police information, meeting with complainants, assisting other agencies, lost or found property, escorts and other non-emergency services.

Even after the decrease, public assistance and administrative activity represented approximately 17.6% of everything recorded during July.

Medical and fire responses increased from 363 entries in June to 388 in July, an increase of approximately 6.9%.

Welfare, behavioral and disturbance-related activity increased from 369 to 387 entries, or approximately 4.9%.

Patrol and preventive activity remained relatively consistent, moving from 357 entries in June to 354 in July.

Together, traffic and vehicle activity, public assistance, medical and fire responses, welfare-related activity, and preventive patrols accounted for approximately 85% of all police activity entries during both months.

That broader breakdown provides important context: the majority of recorded police activity was not categorized as a reported offense or investigation.

Reported offenses and investigations increased from 185 entries in June to 202 in July.

That represented an increase of approximately 9.2%, although the category still accounted for only 7.7% of July’s total recorded activity.

These entries should not automatically be interpreted as confirmed crimes. An entry reflects how the activity was initially recorded and categorized. It does not tell us whether someone was charged, whether an allegation was substantiated or how a case was ultimately resolved.

This data shows how frequently different types of police activity appeared in the department’s records.

It does not measure exactly how officers spent their time.

A routine traffic stop, a medical emergency and a complicated investigation each count as one entry, even though they may require significantly different amounts of time and personnel. Measuring the department’s actual time allocation would require additional information, such as officer-hours or time spent on individual calls.

The categories used in this report were created by Upper Merion Area Spotlight based on the activity descriptions contained in the police records. Individual names and specific locations have been intentionally excluded from our public reporting.

June and July provide our first two comparable reporting periods. Two months are not enough to establish a long-term trend, but they give us an initial baseline.

As additional records become available, we will continue adding each month to the dataset. Over time, that will allow us to examine:

Future monthly reports will remain focused on aggregate data—not individual names, addresses or isolated incidents.

This report is intended to give Upper Merion residents a clearer, more consistent view of the work being recorded by their local police department.

Source: Upper Merion Township Police Department records obtained through Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know process. June figures cover June 1–30, 2026. July figures cover July 1–30, 2026. Totals count unique police log numbers.

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Corey