Dayton crime rates are on the rise. Sort of.
In a recent investigation by the Dayton Daily News, it’s been revealed that car thefts are on the rise. As are weapons violations and murders.
Regardless of the numbers, though, Dayton Police say that Dayton remains a safe city, and is actually the safest it’s been in previous years.
Gun violence has declined considerably and is currently at a 10-year low, according to Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.
However, reports of rape and sexual assaults are on the rise too, which are likely a direct result of the #MeToo movement, showing victims’ willingness to come forward.
In 2017, the overall crime rate in Dayton fell by an astonishing 10 percent. It didn’t stay that low in 2018, (it rose by two percent). Yet it remained fairly lower than 2016 by eight percent.
The biggest problems Daytonians have to deal with are pickpockets and breaking and entering. There was a 15 percent increase in B&E’s in 2018. There was also a 33 percent increase in arsons.
Nevertheless, Dayton still seems to be pretty safe when it comes to violent crimes like murder, but it continues to remain the police’s top priority.
According to Dayton Daily News, “Dayton had 37 murders and non-negligent manslaughter incidents in 2018, which was four more than 2017, but two less than 2016.
Dayton had 27 criminal homicides each year in 2012, 2013 and 2014. There were 30 in 2015.”
The main factor of those violent crimes is firearms. 32 of the 37 homicides involved them.
According to Biehl, “Someone who is injured by gun crime is 12 times more likely to die if they are assaulted by a firearm than any other weapon. Gun crime, because of the sheer lethality potential, has to be the priority.”
On a positive note, firearm-related crimes have fallen to the lowest level in a decade during 2018.
The DPD is not quite sure what exactly caused the decline, but they speculate it’s because they’ve placed more emphasis on cracking down on these types of crimes and reorganized their Violent Crimes Bureau.
In an attempt to discourage situations from escalating, community leaders are advocating for people to leave their guns at home. After all, you can’t shoot someone if you don’t have a firearm.
One community leader, Tony Ruby Sr., has spoken with inmates who say they wouldn’t be in prison right now had they just left their gun at home.
Dayton has also approved a $50,000 budget in preventative measures, specifically establishing the Greater Dayton Homicide Review Commission.
The Commission will be in charge of creating detailed plans to prevent future violent crimes as well as analyzing each individual homicide to find out why this happened and how they can stop future incidents.
Emilee Brewer
Intern