The Virginia State Police (VSP) has finally published its 2021 Crime in Virginia report. I’ll be out of action for much of the day today, so I’ll settle right now for posting a few highlights.
- Homicides. The number of homicides (murder/nonnegligent manslaughter) increased to 562 statewide in 2021, a rate of 6.49 per 100,000. The rate of homicides per 100,000 is up 30% from in 2019, the year before COVID, the George Floyd protests, and the attendant assaults on the legitimacy of the criminal justice system.
- Aggravated assaults. There were 13,274 aggravated assaults reported in 2021, a rate of 153 per 100,000 Virginians, up from a rate of 144 the previous year, and 130 the year before that — a two-year increase of almost 18%.
- Drug offenses. There were 35,389 drug offenses reported in 2021, a rate of 408 per 100,000 population. That was down from a rate of 660 the year before and 870 the year before that.
- Motor vehicle theft. Robberies were down slightly from the previous year but motor vehicle thefts were up slightly.
- Victims by race. The number of White homicide victims remained stable — 172 in 2021 compared to 172 the previous year. The number of Black victims jumped to 382, up from 350 the previous year and 253 the year before — a two-year increase of 51%.
- Hate crimes. A morsel of good news in the report is that the number of hate crimes in Virginia plummeted to 123, down from 190 the previous year. And despite media attempts to gin up a controversy over a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes, the number of Asian hate crime victims in Virginia fell to three last year, down from six the year before.
- Firearms. The number of crimes involving firearms in 2021 increased to 6,102, an increase of 10.5% from the previous year.
I will delve into the numbers, and the implications of the numbers, as time permits. — JAB