Violent crime fell 16.9% compared to 2024, driven by notable declines in aggravated assaults (down 21.5%) and robberies (down 9.2%). Homicides remained flat at 39, while rapes decreased 10.2%.
Property crime dropped 3.8%, with motor vehicle thefts down 14.2% and burglaries down 8.9%. Larceny dipped slightly by 0.8%.
Clearance rates improved in several key categories, including homicide, where Durham police cleared 89.7% of cases, which is well above the FBI's 2024 average.
Robbery and burglary clearances also rose year to year.
Durham sees major drop in violent crime in 2025 report
The department continues to face staffing shortages, filling 74.8% of sworn positions and 92.4% of non-sworn roles at the end of 2025.
Resignations decreased compared to the past two years.
It all comes at a time as Durham's police chief is preparing to retire, when there have been staffing shortages, and debates about programs such as ShotSpotter.
But some say that though the data is encouraging, there is still much more work to be done.
"I'm one of those that sees the gun violence after it's happened," said Dr. Malcolm DeBaun, a Duke trauma surgeon. "There's a lot of chaos and lot of randomness to it as well, and it's tragic because a lot of this happens to preventable patients that have been victims of the situation or circumstance they're living in, and that's really unfortunate."
Homicides have stayed about the same, but Durham Mayor Leo Williams says even one is too many.
"It starts at home," Williams said. "We need to make sure we're providing families the support they need, so they can keep their children safe. We need to make sure parents are doing their job to keep their kids safe."
Last week, Williams told ABC11 he was disappointed programs such as ShotSpotter are no longer being used. But he also says prevention starts long before that.
But Councilmember Shanetta Burris pushed back on the idea that the burden only falls on parents. She thinks the community can do more to fill the gap.
"I don't know their day-to-day. I'm not a parent. Right. So it's not. OK. So I need to be more involved with life," Burns said. "I work an hourly job trying to get by. I may not have the resources, so that's where we come in at and invest more in our youth community. But do it from intentional spaces and not from a judgment point."
Donald Hughes grew up in Durham. He said that for young people now, there aren't always options after the school bell ends for the day.
"So, we have to do more as a local government to invest in those programs that will support our young people outside of the home. We can't blame the parents," Hughes said.
The crime report will be officially presented on Thursday during the Durham City Council work session at 1 p.m. There's no word yet on a timeframe for a replacement for Chief Patrice Andrews, who is set to retire in May.
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