The number of violent crimes committed in Virginia Beach has risen over the last year, and so has the number of these cases solved by the city’s police department, according to a report released on Friday.
The Virginia Beach Police Department CompStat 2016 report shows that violent crimes committed in the city increased by 10 percent in 2016, with 67 more crimes reported last year than in 2015.
According to the report, violent crimes include homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
The report also shows that the Virginia Beach Police Department solved 105 more violent crimes in 2016 than it did in 2015, amounting to an 8 percent increase.
While violent crimes were on the rise in 2016, the number of those crimes committed in Virginia Beach has dropped by nearly 14 percent since 2012.
(Chart represents violent crimes committed in Virginia Beach in 2016)
The report also revealed details about property crimes committed in Virginia Beach, including burglary, larceny, car theft and arson.
The number of property crimes committed in the city decreased by almost 2 percent in 2016, while the solve rate of those crimes dropped by 5 percent. In 2016, there were 187 fewer property crimes reported to the police than in 2015; however the department solved 542 fewer of these crimes in the same time frame, according to the report.
Over the last five years, the total number of property crimes in Virginia Beach has gone down by 18 percent.
(Chart represents the number of property crimes committed in Virginia Beach in 2016)
Of the 877 arrests made in 2016 for murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, weapon possession and sex crimes, more than 83 percent of offenders were adults and 16 percent were juveniles.
The report also provided details about the Virginia Beach Police Department’s use of force in 2016, revealing that city officers used force in 622 incidents, including drawing a gun on a human 60 times. In all of these instances officers did not shoot.
Officers also used force via pointing tasers at people 59 times. They discharged their tasers 19 times and used police dogs for apprehension nine times.
Police also issued nearly 10,000 fewer traffic tickets in 2016 to drivers in Virginia Beach compared to 2014.
No one in the Virginia Beach Police Department was available to comment on the report. Chief of Police James Cervera is scheduled to present the report to Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday.
Mayfield can be reached at [email protected].
