Crime statistics a mixed bag

Violent crime is down so far this year in the Charlottesville area, but that good news is tainted by September’s three homicides.

In the city, violent crime (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) has dropped 10 percent so far this year when compared with the same period in 2007, according to the police department’s numbers.

Albemarle violent crime appears to be on about the same pace as a year ago.

But the most serious of violent crimes, homicide, is up.

In a span of two weeks in September, three people were killed — one in Charlottesville and two in Albemarle, the county’s first homicides of the year.

While Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo likes what the numbers show, he laments the increase in city killings, up one compared with last year’s three.

“You can’t rest on your laurels just because your numbers are down,” the chief said. “I can’t look a family in the eye whose son has just been killed and say the numbers are down.”

Albemarle Police Chief John Miller echoed Longo’s sentiments.

“Although violent crime is down, having three homicides within two weeks of each other has an impact on our entire region,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Violent crime is down, but crime statistics mean little when a community has three violent crimes occur in such a short period of time.”

While violent crime overall is down, the categories differ.

In the city, rapes and assaults are down while there have been more robberies and homicides. In the county, robberies and assaults appear to be on the decrease while rapes and homicides are up slightly.

Last year at this time, there had been one homicide in Charlottesville, but two more were committed before 2007 ended. This year four people have been killed in the city. Police have made arrests in all of the cases.

“When [homicides] happen like they did recently, people tend to say, ‘What’s going on here?’” Longo said. He understands that response, but cautions against knee-jerk reactions.

“You do have to look at the numbers,” he said. “However, you don’t say we don’t need to be talking about” crime.

The city department focuses heavily on statistics, using software developed by New York City police. The department has been using the program, which allows them to track crime daily, since sometime around late 2003, Longo said. Once each month, officers gather to examine trends and specific cases using the statistics.

“It gets everybody talking about what’s going on,” Longo said.

From those meetings, the officers develop “problem-solving projects” that focus on trouble spots, Longo said.

The department also has a new software program run by its crime analyst that soon will allow them to perform trend studies and plan ahead accordingly, Longo said.

Both Longo and Miller stressed the importance of community involvement when it comes to combating crime.

Regardless of the work by police to prevent crime and react when it happens, Longo and Miller noted that they can’t fight it by themselves.

The community must play a role, both chiefs said.

“It’s everybody’s concern,” Longo said, “everybody’s challenge.”