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While Overall Crime Is Down In Charlotte, Violence Is On The Rise

CMPD vehicle
NICK DE LA CANAL
/
WFAE

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department outlined second quarter crime statistics Wednesday that showed a 9% decrease in overall crime. 

Vehicle thefts are down as well as burglaries.

Arrests and calls for service are also down. But violent crimes have risen in the city. Aggravated assaults increased by 6%. And there has been a 4% increase in homicides.

Deputy Chief Coerte Voorhees  says gun violence is partly to blame for the increase in homicides.

Credit CMPD
While overall crime is down, violence in the city is on the rise.

"We have more shootings and more people shot this year than last and that’s one of the things that drives the rate," Voorhees said. "The more people shot the more likely they are to pass away creating more numbers, but those are people."

He also added that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted CMPD’s ability to do crime prevention work in certain neighborhoods.

Sarah Delia is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Sarah joined the WFAE news team in 2014. An Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, Sarah has lived and told stories from Maine, New York, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina. Sarah received her B.A. in English and Art history from James Madison University, where she began her broadcast career at college radio station WXJM. Sarah has interned and worked at NPR in Washington DC, interned and freelanced for WNYC, and attended the Salt Institute for Radio Documentary Studies.