Crime report offers divided picture of counties, city - Martinsville Bulletin

MARTINSVILLE–In some ways, the 2016 Crime in Virginia report paints a positive picture of Martinsville and the surrounding areas. The number of violent crimes dropped in several places over the last year, according to the statewide report that was released just before the holiday. However, as local law enforcement officials acknowledge, there’s still a lot of work to do.

In Martinsville, the report mirrors much of what former police chief Sean Dunn said when the city released its own report back in March. Crime is at its lowest level in the city in a decade. Over the course of 2016, the city saw a 51 percent decrease in violent crime and an 11 percent drop in property crime. Over a three year period, from 2013 to 2016, violent crime dropped by 59 percent and property crime fell by 27 percent.

In the “Crime in Virginia” report, it shows the number of murders, forcible sex offenses, robberies, aggravated assault charges, manslaughter charges, burglary, larceny and stolen property charges are all down in the city. There are only six areas where the city saw an increase over the past year. Those include reports of motor vehicle theft, counterfeiting/forgery charges, fraud, embezzlement, vandalism and violations of weapons laws.

“The reason for the increase in drug offenses was the large operation we had in March where we indicted 98 people, the most this office has ever done,” explained Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith. “That operation lasted 16 months. In 2015, we indicted about half of that on drug offenses.”

Smith added that the reason for the increase in ‘other forcible sex offenses’ is because last year was the first year Patrick County employed two full-time investigators devoted to crimes against children and women. The increase in the forcible sex offenses, Smith said, are mostly crimes against children.

The Patrick County Sheriff’s Office and Patrick County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Vipperman’s office have made it a priority to investigate and prosecute these types of offenses in which the most vulnerable are victimized, Smith said.  

Smith also pointed out that typically statistics fluctuate from year to year, so he likes to look at a time frame of five years or longer.

“Our overall incident rate of 2,716 (crime) incidents per 100,000 (people), which is commonly referred to as our ‘crime rate,’ is extremely low. While I realize that a zero crime rate is unachievable, I am pleased Patrick County's rate is so low,” Smith said.

He noted that Patrick County’s incident or crime rate has been declining since 2000, when it was more than 4,000 incidents per 100,000 population.

Though in some cases the number of offenses are small, percentage-wise Henry County had sharp declines from 2015 to 2016 in such crimes as murder and non-negligent manslaughter, kidnapping/abduction, aggravated assaults and gambling, but sharp increases in forcible rapes, robberies, arsons, counterfeiting/forgeries and embezzlements.

Also in Henry County, the numbers of burglaries, drug/narcotic offenses, gambling, pornography and prostitution cases decreased from 2015 to 2016. In terms of gambling and prostitution, there were no cases during 2016 involving either crime. The number of murder cases also fell, from five in 2015 to three in 2016.

That doesn’t mean everything improved. For example, the number of embezzlement cases rose from 26 in 2015 to 45 by the end of 2016. That’s a 73 percent increase. Also, the number of forgery or counterfeiting cases rose from 45 in 2015 to 84 in 2016. That’s nearly an 87 percent increase. Robbery cases, meanwhile, climbed 76 percent from 17 in 2015 to 30 in 2016.

According to a news release about the 2016 Crime in Virginia report, in 2016 Virginia overall experienced more than a 10 percent increase in violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) compared with 2015; the number of reported homicides increased 25.7 percent (from 382 to 480); motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts increased 18.2 percent; drug and narcotic arrests overall increased 8.7 percent; and robbery increased 7.6 percent.

By The Numbers

Here are some statistics for Henry County, Martinsville and Patrick County, comparing 2016 and 2015 crime incidents.

HENRY COUNTY (includes crimes reported by Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police, most of which were reported by HCSO):

murder and non-negligent manslaughter: 3 in 2016, 5 in 2015. That’s a 40 percent decline.

kidnapping/abduction: 6 in 2016, 11 in 2015. That’s a 45 percent decline.

forcible rape: 13 in 2016, 9 in 2015. That’s an increase of 44 percent.

other forcible sex offenses: 27 in 2016, 24 in 2015. That’s a 12.5 percent increase.

robbery: 30 in 2016, 17 in 2015. That’s a 76 percent increase.

aggravated assault: 61 in 2016, 95 in 2015. That’s nearly a 36 percent decrease.

simple assault/intimidation: 532 in 2016; 425 in 2015. That’s a 25 percent increase.

arson: 17 in 2016, 6 in 2015. That’s a 183 percent increase.

extortion/blackmail: 1 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

burglary: 275 in 2016, 290 in 2015. That’s about a 5 percent decrease.

larceny: 965 in 2016, 890 in 2015. That’s an 8.4 percent increase.

motor vehicle theft: 78 in 2016, 66 in 2015. That’s an 18 percent increase.

counterfeiting/forgery: 84 in 2016, 45 in 2015. That’s nearly an 87 percent increase.

fraud: 310 in 2016, 297 in 2015. That’s nearly a 4.4 percent increase.

embezzlement: 45 in 2016, 26 in 2015. That’s a 73 percent increase.

stolen property: 3 in 2016, 3 in 2015.

destruction/damage/vandalism: 224 in 2016, 211 in 2015. That’s a 6 percent increase.

drug/narcotic offenses: 302 in 2016, 320 in 2015. That’s a 5.6 percent decrease.

non-forcible sex offenses: 1 in 2016; 0 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent increase.

pornography: 11 in 2016, 12 in 2015. That’s about an 8 percent decrease.

gambling: 0 in 2016; 4 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent decrease.

prostitution: 0 in 2016, 1 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent decrease.

bribery: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

weapon law violation: 62 in 2016, 58 in 2015. That’s nearly a 7 percent increase.

MARTINSVILLE (includes crimes reported by Martinsville Police Department and Virginia State Police, most of which were reported by MPD):

murder and non-negligent manslaughter: 0 in 2016, 1 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent decrease.

kidnapping/abduction: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

forcible rape: 0 in 2016, 2 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent decrease.

other forcible sex offenses: 6 in 2016, 10 in 2015. That’s a 40 percent decrease.

robbery: 2 in 2016, 8 in 2015. That’s a 75 percent decrease.

aggravated assault: 26 in 2016, 38 in 2015. That’s nearly a 32 percent decrease.

simple assault/intimidation: 244 in 2016, 244 in 2015.

arson: 4 in 2016, 4 in 2015.

extortion/blackmail: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

burglary: 51 in 2016, 54 in 2015. That’s nearly a 5.6 percent decrease.

larceny: 292 in 2016, 345 in 2015. That’s nearly a 15 percent decrease.

motor vehicle theft: 23 in 2016, 14 in 2015. That’s about a 64.3 percent increase.

counterfeiting/forgery: 34 in 2016, 15 in 2015. That’s nearly a 127 percent increase.

fraud: 44 in 2016, 40 in 2015. That’s a 10 percent increase.

embezzlement: 8 in 2016, 5 in 2015. That’s a 60 percent increase.

stolen property: 2 in 2016, 3 in 2015. That’s a 33 percent decrease.

destruction/damage/vandalism: 142 in 2016, 118 in 2015. That’s a 20 percent increase.

drug/narcotic offenses: 170 in 2016, 230 in 2015. That’s a 26 percent decrease.

non-forcible sex offenses: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

pornography: 1 in 2016, 4 in 2015. That’s a 75 percent decrease.

gambling: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

prostitution: 0 in 2016, 1 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent decrease.

bribery: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

weapon law violation: 23 in 2016, 22 in 2015. That’s about a 4.5 percent increase.

PATRICK COUNTY (includes crimes reported by the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police, most of which were reported by PCSO):

murder and non-negligent manslaughter: 1 in 2016, 1 in 2015.

kidnapping/abduction: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

forcible rape: 4 in 2016, 6 in 2015. That’s a 33 percent decrease.

other forcible sex offenses: 19 in 2016, 8 in 2015. That’s a 137 percent increase.

robbery: 6 in 2016, 3 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent increase.

aggravated assault: 17 in 2016, 23 in 2015. That’s a 26 percent decrease.

simple assault/intimidation: 101 in 2016, 98 in 2015. That’s a 3 percent increase.

arson: 2 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

extortion/blackmail: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

burglary: 33 in 2016, 39 in 2015. That’s about a 15 percent decrease.

larceny: 182 in 2016, 166 in 2015. That’s a 9.6 percent increase.

motor vehicle theft: 18 in 2016, 9 in 2015. That’s a 100 percent increase.

counterfeiting/forgery: 15 in 2016, 6 in 2015. That’s a 150 percent increase.

fraud: 33 in 2016, 34 in 2015. That’s about a 3 percent decrease.

embezzlement: 2 in 2016, 3 in 2015. That’s a 33 percent decrease.

stolen property: 1 in 2016, 2 in 2015. That’s a 50 percent decrease.

destruction/damage/vandalism: 52 in 2016, 64 in 2015. That’s about an 18.7 percent decrease.

drug/narcotic offenses: 69 in 2016, 28 in 2015. That’s a 146 percent increase.

non-forcible sex offenses: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

pornography: 5 in 2016, 4 in 2015. That’s a 25 percent increase.

gambling: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

prostitution: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

bribery: 0 in 2016, 0 in 2015.

weapon law violation: 21 in 2016, 17 in 2015. That’s a 23.5 percent increase.

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