Violent Crime Drops in Charlotte, North Carolina

According to new statistics released by the Charlotte Mecklenburg police department at the end of October, violent crime is dropping. The number of violent crimes overall decreased .3%. While homicides have went up overall violent crime has been reduced, compared to this same period in 2007.

Also the number of robberies and rapes decreased dramatically compared to this time last year -- 5% overall -- according to the report. This is helpful for a city that has been in turmoil over the issues in the financial sector. Many worry about the direct hit Charlotte will take from the buyout of Wachovia Corp. and that as unemployment grows so will the number of crimes. These worries are shared by many including retired police officer Robert Seabrooks. He says that in his experience when people get desperate so do their actions. He says he hopes things won't come to that point.

The city of Charlotte has seen a lot of hardships and economic stress with the widespread failing of the banking industry. A industry that Charlotte as a whole is built around. Wachovia its self had its headquarters in Charlotte and occupies 7% of all Charlotte office space and was the second largest employer in North Carolina.

Now as those jobs are moved away or taken else where, Charlotte is facing a over saturation of a skilled workforce in a area with not enough job growth to place them. This lead many to believe that Charlotte would see a large increase in crime, especially violent crime. With the already emerging gang crisis here that was very bad news.

This coupled with the crisis brought about by high food and until recently gas prices made people doubt their security with their job and their home. Hopefully Charlotte's days are going to get better as it seems the worst might be behind us.

As many here will tell you the city has been through worse times and survived. They don't think this will be much different. Andrea Simms has lived here 82 years and she seems optimistic about Charlotte's future saying "Things always have to change sometimes for the worse in order to get better". Words that resonate within the spirit of this city and its people.

Though the future for Charlotte's banking industry and economy isn't certain, the impact this will have on crime is looking to be minimal. And that's good news for this already troubled city.

Printed below is the report released by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police department.

CMPD - Crime Statistics Summary for September 2008

(released October 28, 2008)

Through the end of September, the total number of violent Index crimes decreased .3% from last year; total property index crimes year-to-date also were down 2%.

# There were 61 criminal homicides this year compared to 52 in the same period in 2007.

# Two of the other violent index crime categories experienced decreases year-to-date, while one showed an increase:

o Total robberies dropped 4.5% this year.

o The number of rapes decreased 6%.

o Aggravated assaults increased 3.4% so far this year.

# Burglary overall in the first three quarters of 2008 decreased 2.1%, due to a combination of a 9.8% increase in residential cases and a decrease of 26.4% in commercial cases.

# Reports of vehicle thefts dropped 5.9% this year.

# Total larceny cases decreased 1% through September. Shoplifting cases increased 13.8%, but larceny from auto decreased .4% year-to-date.

# Arson declined in the first nine months of the year by 17.1%.

# Both the number of clearances of Index offenses and the clearance rate rose this year: 6,964 cases cleared this year for a cleared rate of 16.6% compared to 6,169 (14.4%) in the same period last year.

# Arrests have increased by 3% compared to the first three quarters of 2007.

# Citations rose 3.4% compared to last year.

Through September this year, 40 fatal traffic crashes resulted in the deaths of 28 vehicle occupants and 12 pedestrians.