Crime down in both city, Albemarle

By Scott Shenk

Published: June 20, 2008

By Scott Shenk

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With a few exceptions, crime in Charlottesville and Albemarle County dropped in 2007, according to a Virginia State Police report released Friday.

Overall crime decreased not only locally but also slightly in the state, according to the report, which the state police compile using statistics from local agencies throughout Virginia.

Overall, there were 4,530 crimes reported in Albemarle during 2007, a drop of about 3 percent from 2006. In Charlottesville, there were 4,508 crimes in 2007, a drop of 7 percent.

Both localities have seen crime increase since 2002. That year, there were 3,383 crimes reported in Charlottesville and 4,115 in Albemarle.

In the state, there were 453,025 crimes reported last year, a drop of 1 percent from a year earlier. Violent crime in the state dropped by 2.6 percent.

Violent crime was mostly static locally from 2006 to 2007, and dropped in some categories, especially in terms of aggravated assaults in the city. There were 64 fewer such cases in 2007 than a year earlier.

Murders stayed the same in the city (three) and the county (one).

Burglaries and larcenies dropped significantly.

Albemarle Police Chief John Miller thinks the drop in those crimes stems from the arrests of several criminal gangs that been committing residential burglaries in the area.

In 2005, there were 270 burglaries in Albemarle; a year later, that number jumped to 356. In 2007, there were 313 burglaries.

For a while after the arrests, there indeed were fewer burglaries, the chief said.

But the lull may have ended, he said. There has been a recent spike in daytime residential burglaries in western and northern Albemarle.

“We were concerned that the void would [be filled] sooner,” the chief said.

Larcenies have shown a pattern similar to burglaries. In the county they were down about 7 percent between 2006 and 2007, according to the state police report. In the city, such crimes dropped about 10 percent during the same time.

But larcenies have increased recently in the county, Miller said.

“I guess it’s a summertime thing,” he said.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo could not be reached for comment.

Illegal drug activity proved mixed in the area, according to the state police report.

Drug-related crimes dropped in the city by about 7 percent from 2006 to 2007, but increased in the county.

Miller said drugs present a unique challenge for county police.

The city is smaller and it’s easier to pinpoint areas of drug activity, he said.

“We do not have neighborhood problems” with drugs, Miller said. “In the county, it’s a little harder to get to because there’s a lot of selling behind closed doors.”