Report: Crimes on increase - YourGV.com

Crime rates increased in the county with Halifax County Sheriff’s Office showing a rise in the number of arrests last year, but Virginia State Police saw a decrease, according to Virginia’s official comprehensive report on local and statewide crime figures for 2016.

Halifax County Sheriff’s Office last year responded to 608 incidents — higher than the 537 in 2015 — one murder or non-negligent manslaughters, four kidnapping/abductions, six forcible rapes, 15 other forcible sex offenses, three robberies, 23 aggravated assaults, 127 simple assaults/intimidations, three arsons and one extortion/blackmail, according to the detailed document, titled “Crime in Virginia.”   

“Crime in Virginia” provides precise rates and occurrences of crimes committed in towns, cities and counties across the commonwealth.   The report breaks down criminal offenses by the reporting agency as well as arrests by jurisdiction.  

The sheriff’s office also responded to 103 burglaries, 194 larcenies, 24 motor vehicle thefts, five counterfeiting/forgeries, 38 fraud offenses, two embezzlements, two stolen property, 92 destruction/damage/vandalism offenses, 53 drug/narcotic offenses, one prostitution offense and 23 weapon law violations.

Virginia State Police responded to 126 incidents — lower than the 138 in 2015 — including two other forcible sex offenses, three simple assaults or intimidation, two larcenies, one motor vehicle theft, 14 fraud, 104 drug/narcotic offenses and eight weapon law violations.

Halifax County had a population of 26,359 in 2016, according to the report, with an incident rate per 100,000 of 2,306.61.

South Boston Police Department also saw an increase in reported crimes responding to 698 incidents in 2016 compared to 694 incidents in 2015.

Reported crimes included one murder and non-negligent manslaughter, seven kidnapping/abduction, two forcible rape, seven forcible sex offenses, seven robberies, 24 aggravated assaults, 186 simple assaults or intimidation and two arsons.

  Also South Boston Police investigated 77 burglaries, 231 larcenies, eight motor vehicle thefts, 11 counterfeiting/forgeries, 33 frauds, 16 embezzlements, 97 destruction of property/vandalisms, 53 drug/narcotic offenses, one pornography offense and 20 weapon law violations.

South Boston had a population of 7,976 last year, according to the report, with an incident rate per 100,000 of 8,751.25.

Halifax Police Department responded to 28 incidents — two fewer incidents than in 2015 — including one forcible sex offense, seven simple assaults or intimidation, one burglary, three larcenies, one counterfeiting/forgery, five destruction/damage/vandalism offenses, 11 drug/narcotic offenses and one weapon law violation.

The town of Halifax had a population of 1,249 last year, according to the report, with an incident rate per 100,000 of 2,241.79.

Adult arrests in the county last year totaled 1,083. One adult was charged with murder, five with kidnapping, four with sex offenses, four with robbery, 29 with aggravated assault, 104 with simple assault, eight with burglary, 114 with larceny, four with motor vehicle theft, 10 with counterfeiting/forgery, four with fraud, seven with embezzlement, three with stolen property, 17 with vandalism, 122 with drug/narcotic offenses, two with non-forcible sex offenses and 25 with weapons law violations.   

Three adults were charged with writing bad checks, 10 with disorderly conduct, 94 with driving under the influence, 85 with drunkenness, two with liquor law violations, 33 with trespassing, and 369 adults were arrested on other charges.

In the county, 19 juveniles faced charges including one with a forcible sex offense, one with aggravated assault, four with simple assault, three with arson, one with burglary, three with larceny, four with drug/narcotic offenses and one with weapon law violations, the report stated.

One juvenile was charged with driving under the influence, and three juveniles were arrested on other charges.

Virginia experienced more than a 10 percent increase in violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault compared to 2015 (10.8 percent).

The FBI’s nationwide figures for 2016 are not yet available.

The number of reported homicides increased from 382 to 480 or an increase of 25.7 percent. Victims and offenders tended to be relatively young; 47.5 percent of homicide victims and 63.5 percent of offenders were less than 30 years of age. Victims and offenders were most likely to be male (78.3 percent and 91.0 percent respectively).

Property crime (burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft) overall remain mostly unchanged from the previous year (-.40 percent). The FBI’s nationwide figures for 2016 are not yet available.

Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts increased 18.2 percent compared to the previous year. Of the 9,719 motor vehicles stolen, 6,049 or 62.2 percent were recovered. Of all motor vehicles stolen, automobiles and trucks had the highest frequency of being recovered (67.8 percent, 68.0 percent). Recreational and “other” motor vehicles (motorcycles, mopeds, snowmobiles, etc.) were least likely to be recovered (50.8 percent, 40.6 percent). Four out of 10 (41.5 percent) of all motor vehicles were reported stolen from the residence/home. The reported value of all motor vehicles stolen was $89,990,458, while the reported value recovered was $53,664,462.

Drug and narcotic arrests increased overall compared to the previous reporting period (8.7 percent). Marijuana was associated with more drug arrests than any other drug. Marijuana arrests increased 10.6 percent compared to the previous reporting period while arrests for heroin, “crack” cocaine and powder cocaine showed an even greater percent increase compared to the previous reporting period (17.1 percent, 11.1 percent, 19.4 percent, respectively).

Fraud offenses increased by less than one percent compared to 2015 (.85 percent).

Of the 862 arsons and attempted arsons that were reported, half (50.3 percent) reported the location as “residence/home.” Neither time of day or day of the week appear to be associated with this offense.

Robbery increased 7.6 percent. Of the 4,796 robberies and attempted robberies, one-third (31.8 percent) took place between 8 pm. and midnight. Days of the week showed little variability in terms of the number of robberies that took place.

Of the weapons reported for violent crimes, firearms were used in 75.6 percent of homicides and 57.6 percent of robberies. Firearms were used to a lesser extent in the offenses of aggravated assault (27.8 percent) and forcible rape (2.2 percent).

There were 137 hate crimes reported in 2016 representing an 11.6 percent decrease compared to 2015. Over half (57.6 percent) were racially or ethnically motivated.

Bias toward sexual orientation and religion were next highest (19.7 percent, 16.8 percent, respectively).

The remaining 5.8 percent reported was attributed to a bias against a victim’s physical or mental disability. The offense of assault was associated with half (50.4 percent) of all reported bias-motivated crimes, while destruction/damage/ vandalism of property was associated with 31.4 percent of all reported bias-motivated crimes.

Per state mandate, the Department of Virginia State Police serves as the primary collector of crime data from participating Virginia state and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices.

The data is collected by the Virginia State Police Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division via a secured internet system. This information is then compiled into Crime in Virginia, an annual report for use by law enforcement, elected officials, media and the general public. These data become the official crime statistics for the commonwealth and are sent to the FBI who modifies and incorporates them in their annual report, Crime in the United States.

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