Violent crime and traffic deaths drop in Richmond as car thefts rise
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Violent crime, homicides and shootings are down in the city of Richmond, but car thefts and robberies are up, Police Chief Rick Edwards said at last week's midyear crime briefing.
Why it matters: With the exception of robberies of people, every category of violent crime is down in the city for the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
By the numbers: Overall violent crime for the first half of the year is down 3%.
- Homicides are down 29%.
- Rape is down 49%.
- Commercial robberies dropped 25%.
- Aggravated assault is down 2%.
Context: Edwards noted the decline in violent crime is even more impressive compared to long-term data.
- Compared to 2018, overall violent crime in Richmond is down 15%.
- And the first six months of 2024 has seen the lowest level of violent crime incidents since 2018, with the exception of 2020, which was an outlier.
- RPD achieved this with nearly 150 fewer officers today than it had in summer 2020.
Worth noting: RPD says moving up the start of the "Operation Safe Summer" initiative from June 1 to mid-April was successful in helping curb summertime gun violence in the city.
- For the period of April 19-June 30, RPD saw a 12% drop in the number of shootings, compared to the same period the previous year.
- Plus, increased police presence around high school graduations resulted in only two gun-related arrests, both outside the ceremony, Edwards said.
Yes, and: Traffic fatalities are down 58%, a drop Edwards attributed to the city-wide effort for better traffic safety, plus the installation of speed cameras around area schools.
Yes, but: Robberies of people are up 35% compared to the first six months of 2023.
- Those robberies are primarily happening in South Richmond and the Southwood community off Hull Street near Southside Plaza, Edwards said.
- Car thefts continue to trend up. They increased by 32% this year with nearly half of them being of Hyundais or Kias, those TikTok-famous car thefts (394 of the 639 cars stolen in Richmond thus far in 2024 were Kias or Hyundais).
Shoplifting is up 15% from the same period last year — and 51% of all shoplifting cases in Richmond were of liquor from Virginia ABC stores.
Fun Fact: The VCU-area ABC store, 1217 West Broad, has seen the most thefts, followed by the Shockoe Bottom store at 2525 E. Main.
- The liquor there will go behind the glass in the coming weeks.