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Home > VACP News > 2009 Crime in Virginia Report Now Available on VSP Web Site

2009 Crime in Virginia Report Now Available on VSP Web Site

May 6, 2010 | Virginia News

RICHMOND – Virginia’s official and only comprehensive report on local and statewide crime figures for 2009 is now available online at the Virginia State Police Web site at http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Crime_in_Virginia.shtm. The detailed document, titled 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 following 2009 crime trends within Virginia are detailed in the report:
  • Virginia experienced a decline in violent crime of 9.7 percent compared to 2008; the FBI reports a preliminary nationwide decrease of 4.4 percent (comparing first six months 2008 with the same period in 2009).
  • Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts decreased 13.0 percent. Of all motor vehicles stolen, 60 percent were recovered. Automobiles and trucks stolen had the highest percent recovered (69 percent, 71 percent), while recreational and “other” motor vehicles had the lowest percent recovered (39 percent, 32 percent). Nearly four out of ten (38 percent) of all motor vehicles were reported stolen from the location of residence/home.
  • Excluding motor vehicle thefts, other property crimes such as larceny, fraud and stolen property offenses were relatively unchanged or showed a slight decrease (-1.4 percent, 0.29 percent, -3.7 percent, respectively).
  • For the second consecutive reporting period, drug and narcotic offenses showed a decrease from the previous year (-2.5 percent).
  • Of the 6,321 robberies and attempted robberies, one-third (33.6 percent) took place between 8 p.m. and midnight. The days of the week, however, showed little variability. Most victims were male (70 percent) as were offenders (94 percent).
  • Of the known weapons reported, firearms were the most frequently used in homicides (68 percent) and robberies (59 percent).
  • Victims of burglaries were evenly distributed regarding gender (53 percent male, 47 percent female), while offenders were predominately male (87 percent). Of the type of security, 16 percent reported “none.”
The report employs an Incident Based Reporting (IBR) method for calculating offenses, thus allowing for greater accuracy. IBR divides crimes into two categories: Group A for serious offenses including (violent crimes, murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault), property crimes and drug offenses; and Group B, less serious offenses including trespassing, disorderly conduct, bad checks and liquor law violations where an arrest has occurred. For Group A offenses, between 2008 and 2009, adult arrests in Virginia increased 3.9 percent. Juvenile arrests for Group A offenses decreased 4.1 percent statewide during the same time period. Crime in Virginia reports that Group B arrests increased 5.0 percent for adults, but decreased 13.9 percent for juveniles from 2008 to 2009. There were a total of 336,189 arrests in 2008 compared to 345,884 arrests in 2009, representing an increase of 2.9 percent. Per state mandate, the state police serve as the primary collector of crime data from participating Virginia state and local police departments, and sheriffs’ offices. The data are collected by the Virginia State Police Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division via an automated system, and 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 which incorporates them in their annual report, Crime in the United States.

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