Decline in violent crime in Statesville, North Carolina; increase in murders

“I'm not going to be the one to take sole credit. It's the entire community that has helped us with many of the issues we've been struggling with, especially juvenile delinquency. We've seen a big decline in the last few years,” Onley said. “The majority of the cases we've dealt with this year have to do with domestic relationships, from murders to violent crimes.”

Onley said reporting crimes in the community gives police the opportunity to address crimes as soon as they become apparent.

“It’s a sign of the trust we’ve built in the community,” Onley said.

However, the violent crime figures were not without troubling signs. While violent crime is declining, the five murders through June 2024 in particular are many more than last year, when one was reported. In 2022, six were reported.

All data presented to the Council on Monday relate to the first six months of the year and will be compared with the same period in 2023.

Overall, the violent crime rate has fallen by almost 30%. 74 cases were reported, compared to 105 in the same period last year.

There were 52 serious assaults, a decrease from the previous year when 90 were reported. The number of robberies rose to 13, up from nine in the first six months of 2023. Police reported four rape cases, a slight decrease compared to the first six months of last year.

According to the police department's hotspot map unveiled Monday, the areas most affected by violent crime are in the southwestern part of the city, particularly south of U.S. 70 east and west of Shelton Avenue.

There was a slight increase in property crime (469 cases compared to 460).

In terms of property crimes, the number of reported burglaries and thefts fell from 90 to 82, and the number of motor vehicle thefts fell from 42 to 27.

The increase in property crime is due to thefts from motor vehicles (73 compared to 68 last year), thefts of motor vehicle parts (23 more than the 18 last year) and thefts and other crimes (264 compared to 242 in the period January-June last year).

Onley said the agency is trying to combat these “crimes of opportunity” and advised residents not to leave valuables lying openly or in visible places in vehicles.

In the first six months of 2024, the number of road accidents increased from 856 to 780 in the same period of 2023. The number of reported property damages was 560 (previously 515), the number of hit-and-runs increased from 133 to 137 and the number of injured increased from 132 to 159.

Statesville police have been involved in five accidents so far this year, one more than during the same period last year. Two of those accidents were related to chases.

The police chief reported that officers seized 85 pistols, 11 rifles and four shotguns as evidence in the first six months of 2024. Police also seized 362 pieces of drug-related paraphernalia, 7,563.45 grams of various drugs, 484 pills or other dosage units and 151.68 ounces of liquid drugs.

During arrests and investigations, police also seized cash valued at $35,480.27.

The department saw a slight increase in 911 calls (15,426) during the first six months of 2024, with officer-initiated calls accounting for the largest increase at 19,926 compared to 16,050 last year. Overall, calls are up 12.84%, with a total of 35,172 compared to 31,170 at this point in 2023.

Police have reported 13 incidents of violence so far this year, with both suspects and police officers injured seven times, one less than in the same period last year.

The percentage of cases closed this year is 52%, compared to 43% in the first six months of 2023.

The Crime Reduction Team, formerly known as the Special Southside Unit, created in May 2023, seized 1,846.9 grams of marijuana, 3 grams of fentanyl, 160.3 grams of crack or cocaine, 3.9 grams of meth, 102.5 grams of pills and $9,573.38 in cash.

The police team also conducted 1,267 traffic stops, made 178 arrests, issued 122 tickets, confiscated 25 firearms and issued 344 arrest warrants.

Onley said the Crime Reduction Team is not only focusing on the south side, but also where problem areas are emerging. He again attributed the success to community involvement.

“I said when we started back up that we were going to be surgical in what we were doing. We were not going to harass the public. We were going to be very specific about who we were negotiating with, which houses we were negotiating with, and focus our efforts on those,” Onley said.