Bensalem Condemns Racist 'Black Crimes' Stickers

BENSALEM, PA — Police and other public officials are condemning racist stickers they say someone has been placing in Bensalem along Street Road.

Members of Bensalem's public works department on Monday tore down a sticker posted near the intersection of Street Road and Interstate 95 with the words "Black Crimes Matter." Officials said they are aware of similar stickers being posted in other places in the area.

Bensalem Public Safety Director Fred Harran wrote that he was made aware of the sticker by Bucks County NAACP President Karen Downer.

"We will not tolerate anything that promotes hatred or the destruction of the great relationships we have built here in Bensalem Township," Harran said in a letter shared Tuesday by the NAACP. "It is because of the open line of communication that the police department and the township has with the NAACP and other organizations that allows us to react quickly in such matters."

Harran encouraged anyone who discovers similar stickers to notify authorities.

On Tuesday, the Bucks County NAACP also urged anyone who sees similar signs to come forward.

Harold Hayes, a Democratic candidate for the state House of Representatives in Bensalem, shared an image of the sticker on Monday, saying that ones like it "have been cropping up around Street Road."

"Hate has no place in Bensalem," Hayes wrote.

The phrase "Black Crimes Matter" has been used at multiple public events by what the Anti-Defamation League has described as right-wing extremists seeking to disrupt recent demonstrations calling for racial justice and an end to police violence.

The sticker included a link to a website and unsubstantiated crime statistics. The numbers on the sticker do not appear to match those in a 2017 FBI analysis of criminal arrests broken down by race and ethnicity, which was the most recent year for which those detailed numbers were available.