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Charlotte crime report shows rise in violent crimes

By John Paul, wsoctv.com
By John Paul, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New crime numbers out Friday show violent crime is still on the rise across Charlotte, including homicides.

Some of the most revealing information to come from a report released Friday shows homicides are up 40 percent. Other crimes are up as well, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said they're pushing back hard.

In the first six months of 2015, there have been 28 homicides, an increase of 40 percent over last year.

Aggravated assaults are up nearly 20 percent and burglaries are up 8 percent.

The one bright spot is a small drop in robberies, down just over 1 percent.

But even that has a story behind it.

“Let me tell you the real story. Right now, as we speak, we're having a problem going on. That's one of our focus areas,” said Deputy Chief Jeff Estes.

Police are stepping up their efforts Friday and Saturday, focusing on areas around North Tryon, where they've seen a spike in crime.

“We're all in. We have two big operations taking place in these areas,” Estes said.

Police also revealed larceny is a big problem in Uptown.

To fight that, they're going undercover. Channel 9 obtained video showing a plain clothes officer dropping a card into someone’s purse. In the time it took to drop the card, a person could have walked off with the purse.

The hope is they'll realize how easy it is to become a target and help drive these numbers down.numbers down.

A breakdown of the numbers:

  • 28 homicides reported compared to 20 - increase of 40 percent.
  • 770 robberies reported compared to 780 - decrease of -1.3 percent
  • 137 rapes reported compared to 125 – increase of 9.6 percent
  • 1,669 aggravated assaults reported compared to 1,393 – increase of 19.8 percent
  • Burglary overall was up 8.3 percent (2,927 compared to 2,702) with an increase of 9 percent in residential
  • 996 vehicle thefts reported compared to 756 – increase of 31.7 percent
  • Total larcenies increased by 2.7 percent (10,738 compared to 10,456) with larcenies from auto up by 1.3 percent (3,577 compared to 3,531).

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