NORFOLK, Va. — A new report from Virginia State Police (VSP) sheds light on how many crimes were reported across the state in 2022, showing an increase in certain types of crimes from the year before.
The 2022 "Crime in Virginia" report shows a 4.9% increase statewide in the number of violent crimes reported from 2021, from 16,823 to 17,655. This data includes murder, forcible sex offenses, robbery, and aggravated assault.
The report breaks down the rate and occurrences of crimes committed in Virginia's towns, cities, and counties in 2022, including violent crimes, property crimes and lesser offenses, such as trespassing or disorderly conduct.
Reported homicides jump 10%
The report found that 621 homicides were reported in 2022, a 10.5% increase from the 562 reported in 2021.
According to VSP, younger men tended to be victims or offenders. Men between the ages of 18 and 34 made up 42.7% of homicide victims, while 52.2% of men in the same age group were offenders.
Around 52% of all homicides happened at a residence.
Virginia hate crimes up 48% compared to 2021
The state saw 182 hate crime incidents in 2022, which VSP said was a 48% increase compared to 2021.
Nearly 65% of these crimes were racially or ethnically motivated, while 21.5% were motivated by bias toward sexual orientation and 9.2% toward religion.
Around 75% of these crimes were assault offenses or the destruction, damage or vandalism of property.
Vehicle thefts, attempted thefts significantly increased, costing Virginians $201 million in value
Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts increased nearly 22% statewide compared to 2021, according to VSP.
Last year, 14,185 motor vehicles were reported stolen, while 8,337 of them were recovered. Of all vehicles stolen, nearly 34% were taken from a residence.
The value of all the vehicles stolen was $201,069,627.
Slight increase in burglaries in Virginia
The report found that burglary crimes increased by 3.8% between 2021 and 2022, which VSP said was the first increase in over a decade.
10,464 burglaries and attempted burglaries were reported in 2021, compared to 10,860 reported in 2022.
Fraud is also on the rise in Virginia
VSP said fraud crimes increased by nearly 10% from 2021 to 2022. More than three-quarters of the victims were people, while 13.6% were businesses. 22.5% of the victims were older than 65.
Guns used in most Virginia homicides, under half of robberies
According to VSP, of the known weapons reported for violent crimes, firearms were used in 81.6% of homicides and 44.6% of robberies.
Firearms were also used in 37.5% of aggravated assault cases.
