Crime statistics down again in Wilmington

Good news out of the Wilmington Police Department. The city released its crime statistics for 2008, and for the sixth year in a row, the crime rate is down.

Wilmington Police Chief, Ralph Evangelous, said a few things helped police lower the crime rate in 2008.

It was the SABLE helicopter’s first full year as an “eye in the sky”. The department also divided the city in to six mini-precincts with their own lieutenants.

But maybe most important, the department paid special attention to statistics.

Chief Evangelous said, “We look at crime trends, real time, and then we adjust our tactics our strategies based on what the crime trends are at that moment. That has helped us greatly.”

Some of the numbers where crime went down the most: rape was down by 17 percent; burglary of non-residential properties, like sheds, garages or storage facilities was down 26 percent; arson was down by 28 percent.

Overall, serious crime was down by seven percent. Still it’s not enough as Chief Evangelous said he would like to see total crime drop by a third. “When all is said and done, we have too much crime in this community. We have had for decades and decades.”

Murder was the only crime where the numbers went up. There were 12 murders in ’07 and 13 in ’08, an eight percent increase. Those numbers include the two sets of human remains found off of Carolina Beach Road. Factor those out, and street murder is actually down.

The WPD is taking additional steps toward a safer city in 2009. The department’s new police station on College Rd. will have a grand opening in the next few weeks, and within the next three months, video surveillance cameras will go up downtown.