THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 18, 1995 TAG: 9512180034
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Murder rates in Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake plunged during the first half of the year, mirroring a national trend that accounts for the largest drop in murders in 35 years, the FBI reported Sunday.
The results for Hampton Roads overall were mixed, with Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton reporting increases in the number of homicides compared to 1994. Figures for Suffolk were not available Sunday from the FBI.
Virginia Beach fared best, with eighthomicides in the first six months of this year compared with 21 during the same period in 1994.
``We say we're lucky in jest,'' said Lou Thurston, a Virginia Beach police spokesman. ``But I don't know if there really is a reason or cause.''
Few of the murders in Virginia Beach are random slayings, Thurston said. Rather, ``most of ours are from domestic'' violence. ``Everybody knows everybody,'' he said.
Thurston noted that the Police Department has established a unit to curb domestic violence, but he couldn't tell what impact it has had without reviewing the statistics and circumstances.
In Chesapeake, killings reported to police dropped to four during the first six months of this year, from eight last year. In Norfolk, 25 homicides were reported, compared with 30 during the same period last year.
Richmond experienced a sharp drop from 78 to 55 killings, while Washington's homicides fell from 193 to 151.
Mayor William E. Ward of Chesapeake credited Police Chief Ian Shipley Jr. and his department with the decline in homicides in that city.
``We've beefed up our Police Department throughout the city,'' Ward said. ``They're doing an outstanding job.''
Nationally, the number of homicides reported to police fell by 12 percent during the first half of this year, the FBI said. It was the most dramatic decline since 1960. During those 35 years, the next-largest drop in murders was 8.4 percent in 1976.
Experts attributed the decline to a combination of the aging of baby boomers, police efforts aimed at drug gangs and their guns, and the development of stable turf agreements between drug traffickers.
But even when the numbers appear to be good news, not everyone sees a reason to celebrate.
Ronald Carrier, 46, president of the Hollywood/Maple Hall Civic League in Norfolk, said he suspects the decline isn't because streets are safer but rather because people have imprisoned themselves in their homes.
``People come home, they lock their doors, they don't go anywhere. And if they do go out, they are cautious,'' said Carrier, who participates in community policing in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. ``People are not making themselves as susceptible to being a victim.''
Until he can step outside and not feel threatened, Carrier said, he will not put much credence in statistics showing that crime is down. ``At the moment, the criminals still own the streets.''
Homicides rose, the FBI reported, in Portsmouth, 13, compared with 11 during the first half of last year; Newport News, 13, up from nine; and Hampton, eight, up from five.
Nationally, there was a 1 percent decrease in overall reported crimes and a 5 percent drop in violent crimes - murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery. Those six-month figures matched the decreases in those categories for all of 1994.
In violent crimes across the country, rape dropped 7 percent; robbery, 10 percent; and aggravated assault, 2 percent. Burglary declined 4 percent; auto theft, 5 percent. Larceny-theft showed the only increase, 3 percent.
Yet the good news is tempered by numbers that are not apparent in the FBI report - statistics showing that juveniles increasingly are the most violent segment of society.
``The number of juveniles arrested for weapons offenses has more than doubled over the past decade,'' FBI Director Louis Freeh said.
Attorney General Janet Reno credited police departments that have adopted community-oriented policing with bringing about some of the declines. Such programs, in use in Hampton Roads, increase the involvement of police officers with residents, and with schools, recreation departments and drug treatment facilities.
Murders were down 17 percent in cities of a million or more. ``The nine largest cities account for more than 25 percent of the nation's murders,'' said Alfred Blumstein, a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. ``What happens there can swamp whatever happens elsewhere.''
Homicides dropped 19 percent in suburbs and rose 3 percent in rural areas. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MURDER COUNT
Cities for which the FBI listed the number of murders reported to
police in the first six months of 1995 as compared to the same period in
1994.
Virginia & North Carolina
1994 1995
Chesapeake 8 4
Greensboro 8 15
Hampton 5 8
Newport News 9 13
Norfolk 30 25
Portsmouth 11 13
Richmond 78 55
Virginia Beach 21 8
Winston-Salem 24 13
KEYWORDS: MURDER VIOLENT CRIME STATISTICS by CNB