Violent crime drops nearly 4 percent in Virginia

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - The annual "Crime in Virginia" report shows that the Commonwealth saw a 3.9 percent decrease in violent crime in the first six months of last year compared to the same time frame in 2016.

Those crimes include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Property crime - such as burglary, larceny and vehicle theft - was down 2.6 percent.

The report also shows that:

• The number of reported homicides decreased 5.2 percent from 480 to 455
• Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts increased 3.9 percent compared to the previous year.  Of the 10,223 motor vehicles stolen, 6,438 or 63 percent were recovered
• Drug and narcotic arrests increased 15.6 percent
• Fraud offenses decreased almost 4 percent
• Of the 809 arsons and attempted arsons that were reported, nearly half (48.5%) reported the location as "residence/home"
• Robbery decreased 10 percent. Of the 4,320 robberies and attempted robberies 42 percent took place between 8 p.m. and midnight
• Of the known weapons reported for violent crimes, firearms were used in 74.6 percent of homicides and 58.2 percent of robberies
• There were 202 hate crimes reported in 2017 representing a 47.4 percent increase compared to 2016

Copyright 2018 WWBT NBC12. All rights reserved.

Report an Error or Submit a Tip to NBC12