Crime dropping in Durham: What's the latest in the trend?

Crime dropping in Durham: What's the latest in the trend?Photo: iStock
Hoodline
Published on September 12, 2019

The number of crime incidents in Durham saw an overall decrease last week, after a previous rise, according to data from SpotCrime, which collects reports from police agencies and validated sources. Incidents fell to 151 for the week of Sept. 2, down from 161 the week before.

Assault and theft led the decrease in crime incidents. Assault fell to nine incidents last week, from 20 the week before. Theft went from 11 to three.

There were two reported vandalism incidents last week. That represents a level state from the previous week.

Among the few types of offenses that saw an uptick last week, reports of burglary went from zero to two.

There were 135 reports of "other" crimes, an increase of seven from the previous week. SpotCrime's broad "other" category includes a variety of offenses like fraud, trespassing, public disturbance and traffic violations. Of those incidents, 120 involved arrests, such as for drug possession, up from 106 reported arrests the week before.

Looking at crime patterns in different areas of the city, Downtown, Colonial Village and Duke Homestead had the most reported incidents last week. Downtown was at the top of the list the previous week as well.

Downtown saw the largest decline. Crime reports in Cleveland-Holloway also fell, after increasing the week before, and incidents in Old West Durham are down considerably as well.

Regarding day and time factors, Wednesday, Friday and Tuesday saw the most reported crimes last week. The largest decrease from the previous week occurred on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, while incidents on Friday, Wednesday and Tuesday went up. Comparing times of day, mid-day, early afternoon and early morning saw the most crime last week.

Want a longer-term view of crime in Durham? Here's our latest monthly crime report.

To report a crime in progress or life-threatening emergency, call 911. To report a non-urgent crime or complaint, contact your local police department.

Head to SpotCrime to get free local crime alerts in your area.

This story was created automatically using local crime data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about our data sources and local crime methodology. Got thoughts about what we're doing? Go here to share your feedback.