2023 Yearly Report: Property crime up, violent crime at record low in Wilmington
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Last year violent crime in the City of Wilmington reached a new record low since 2009, according to the 2023 Yearly Crime Update.
Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams presented the update to Wilmington City Council on Tuesday evening.
The report includes 12 homicides, which is one less homicide than in 2022.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to commit a homicide in this area,” said. Williams. “Our clearance rate is around 90 percent, which is extremely high. That shows the dedication of our people and more importantly the cooperation of the public because we cannot do this stuff alone.”
Two of the 12 incidents are considered justifiable. One being the officer involved shooting on Market Street that ended the two day crime spree in August. The other justified homicide took place near the end of the year and was ruled self defense.
Of the 10 homicides that were not determined to be justifiable, almost half were related to domestic violence. Chief Williams said this is an unusually high number of homicides connected to domestic violence.
Also notable, the amount of shooting homicides decreased in 2023. Other types of homicides Wilmington Police responded to included stabbings and fatal assaults.
The number of rapes went down by nearly 50 percent. In 2022, Wilmington Police responded to 79 cases of rape. That number is down to 40 in 2023. The report details that rape includes rape (1st and 2nd Degree), sodomy, and sexual assault with an object.
While violent crime is down, property crimes are up substantially from previous years — particularly larceny and motor vehicle theft. The only property crime that saw a decrease last year was arson, which is down from 15 incidents to 10.
According to Chief Williams, thieves will target large parking lots and apartment complexes for car break-ins. A majority of cars that were broken into last year had the doors unlocked.
A hot ticket item for people committing these crimes is a firearm.
“Most of us, we have this by our side all the time — our cell phones. So we need to do the same thing with firearms. If it’s not by your side, it needs to be locked in a home safe or in a secure location, especially if you have small children,” said Williams.
Making sure car doors are locked and removing valuable items are ways to help from becoming the next victim of this type of crime.
During the council meeting, councilmember David Joyner told Chief Williams he had set up a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to organize an event for small business owners to help educate them on how to prevent larceny or how to handle it should it happen to them.
As Wilmington Police works to solve and stop crimes before they happen, Chief Williams emphasized the importance of help from the community.
“Wilmington Police Department will not take credit for any crime reductions we have. It is a collaborative, community effort. Even though we have a part, we’re going to do our part but we expect everybody else to do their part,” said Williams.
