VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Six months into 2024, the Virginia Beach Police Department reports a decrease in homicides and violent crimes in the city. Chief Paul Neudigate posted the findings on social media.
"There's always so much focus on the negativity when the numbers are up, and I think there is a story that needs to be [told] when the numbers are good," said Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate.
Virginia Beach saw less crime between January 1st and June 25th of this year. Violent crime is down by nearly 17% from last year's timeframe. Police recorded six homicides in the first half of 2023. Shootings are also down by almost 46%. The Chief credits the lower numbers to detectives getting illegal guns off the streets and technology.
"80% of the time that we have gunfire in our community, no one is picking up the phone, no one is calling it in, so we use technology to get us to the places where the gunfire is occurring," said Chief Neudigate.
The Chief also said working with the community is critical to solving crimes. Recently, police arrested a suspect connected to a fatal shooting in the Atlantis Apartment Complex 24 hours after the incident.
"There are individuals that gave us some information that helped foster our investigation, so we can't do it without the community," said Chief Neudigate.
Although the Chief is proud, he says he could not have done it alone.
"Our community is the safest it that has been in the last four years in regards to shooting violence, and I thank our men and women who go out there every day and put their lives on the line, and I thank the community for partnering with us," said Chief Neudigate.
Chief Neudigate says so far this year, the department has solved between 85% and 90% of its homicide cases.