| A new fact check from WVIA shows that violent crime is down during Paige Cognetti’s time in office — directly disproving lies from Rob Bresnahan and his allies suggesting otherwise.
WVIA reports that “FBI and state crime statistics show serious crime in Scranton down” under Paige’s leadership. WVIA also notes that Paige has invested in local law enforcement, including “spending more than $5 million to upgrade police equipment and training.”
The Scranton Police Chief praised Paige’s investments, telling WVIA: “I have had full support from this administration at every turn… I have not- we have not had to want (for resources to fight crime).”
DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“Rob Bresnahan is a serial liar who has proven that he is willing to do and say anything to benefit himself. He and his allies have once again been caught in a web of lies because they know he can’t stand on his own record. The facts show that Paige has invested in local law enforcement to make NEPA safer, and she’ll do the same when she gets to Congress.”
Read key details from the fact check below:
- Combined, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s campaign and a national group that helps Republican congressional candidates have sent almost 30 emails since September accusing Cognetti of presiding over a crime wave.
- Cognetti, challenging Bresnahan for the 8th Congressional District seat, sharply pushes back. She points to the city adding five more police officers in the midst of a spike in homicides and gang violence in 2024, spending more than $5 million to upgrade police equipment and training, and plans for a new police command center next to City Hall.
- “I am a mayor and a mom. I became mayor just two weeks after having my first daughter,” she said in a recent interview. “So, my life in the last six and a half years has been 24 hours a day thinking about public safety as mayor and as somebody who’s raising a family here in Scranton.”
- She also pointed to crime statistics.
- The WVIA News analysis includes simple assaults as serious crimes because the state crime reports do and because Scranton Police Chief Thomas Carroll included them in data he provided.
- Based on this definition, publicly posted FBI and state crime statistics show serious crime in Scranton down 4.1% since the beginning of 2021, Cognetti’s second year in office, through 2025, the last year with complete statistics available.
- The Cognetti campaign also pointed to the purchase of 51 new police vehicles since 2023 equipped with smart technology, WiFi, mounted laptops, and AI-driven systems to enhance officer safety and efficiency; 230 citywide cameras for better monitoring of hotspots and public events; and $4 million in police safety equipment including live feed body cameras and dash cams, and enhanced real-time surveillance technology connecting officers in the field and a command center.
- [Scranton Police Chief] Carroll said the city is in “a good spot” when it comes to crime.
- “And I have had full support from this administration at every turn,” Carroll said. “I am the one who runs the police department, not the politicians. I advise. I’m an advisor. And the final decision-making obviously occurs with the chief executive of the city, which is the mayor. But I have not- we have not had to want (for resources to fight crime).”
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