Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson touts crime reduction to start 2023
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Raleigh Police Department touted a significant drop in crime from the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023.
Chief Estella Patterson talked about the new crime statistics during a Thursday afternoon press conference.
She began by revealing that homicides had fallen 58% year to year. Last year, Raleigh saw 12 homicides in the first quarter of the year; this year that number dipped to five.
Business robberies also declined from last year. Going down from 33 to 12, a 64% reduction.
Personal robberies in the cities did not change at all. The first quarters of both 2022 and 2023 saw 91 personal robberies.
The city did see a slight uptick in aggravated assaults -- increasing from 270 to 282.
"What continues to be disturbing to me is the fact that firearms are being used in the aggravated assaults," Patterson said explaining that 42 percent of the aggravated assaults included firearms. "When nearly half of the city's aggravated assaults involve a firearm, that is problematic. We as a community should not be OK with that, and it should not be the norm."
Property crime was another category that saw an increase from 2022. Vehicle thefts specifically saw a large uptick, with 26% incidents.
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In Forest Park -- part of Glenwood South -- residents are voicing concerns, too. Michael Lindsay's lived in the neighborhood for 40 years. On March 4th, he was shocked to discover his doorbell camera captured audio of multiple gunshots. It's just one of many concerns residents there have, including an uptick in vandalism and theft.
"It's very alarming obviously, and we're -- it's not our normal pattern in this neighborhood but it's becoming a pattern this year," Lindsay said.
Raleigh City Councilor Jane Harrison represents District D, which includes Forest Park. She said RPD has increased its focus there.
"They have taken it on themselves to add officers and attention to the Glenwood South area," Harrison said. "So, whatever happened in the past we have to look at the data from today, so RPD is on top of that."
