Violent Crime In Virginia Drops Slightly In 2020: State Police

VIRGINIA — Virginia saw a slight decrease in violent crime in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the state police’s annual crime report. The number of homicides in the state, however, increased by 23.4 percent.

Across the state, there were 15,713 violent crimes reported in 2020 compared to 16,018 violent crimes in 2019, a 1.9 percent drop, the Virginia State Police reported. Violent crimes include murder, forcible sex offenses, robbery and aggravated assault.

A year ago, the state police reported a 2.45 percent increase in violent crime from 2018 to 2019. The Virginia Department of State Police serves as the primary collector of crime data from participating state and local police departments and sheriffs’ offices.

The number of reported homicides increased from 428 in 2019 to 528 people in 2020. In 2018, the state police reported 391 homicides.

Similar to previous years, murder victims and suspects tended to be younger men. According to the report, titled “Crimes in Virginia: 2020,” 45.1 percent of homicide victims were men between 18 and 34, and 52.7 percent of offenders were men between 18 and 34. Nearly half — 49.2 percent — of all homicides occurred at a residence.

Of the known weapons reported for violent crimes, firearms were used in 83 percent of homicides and 50.4 percent of robberies. Firearms were used in more than one-third of aggravated assault cases.

Vehicle thefts and attempted vehicle thefts increased in 2020, with 11,209 vehicles reported stolen, compared with 10,575 in 2019. According to the report, the value of all motor vehicles stolen in Virginia was $113,993,341.

Drug arrests dropped by 36.7 percent overall and by 48.6 percent for people younger than 18. Marijuana arrests were down by 31.7 percent. The report attributed the decline to the decriminalization of possessing less than 1 ounce, which went into effect on July 1, 2020.

Burglary decreased by 18.4 percent. Of the 11,413 burglaries and attempted burglaries, more than half — 52.2 percent — took place at night between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., a reverse pattern from 2019 during which 54.8 percent of burglaries occurred during the day.

In 2020, Virginia police agencies reported 4,423 forcible sex offenses, which include rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object and forcible fondling.

A total of 1,960, or 45 percent, of the forcible sex offenses were committed by an acquaintance, which includes a friend, neighbor and coworker. The next highest category was a family member, which committed 1,136, or 26 percent, of forcible sexual offenses in 2020. A family member refers to a relative other than a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend.

Eleven percent, or 468, of the forcible sexual offenses were committed by a spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend — each of which falls in the "intimate" category. Six percent of forcible sex offenses, or 260 cases, were committed by strangers, according to the report.

Visit the Virginia State Police website to read the 2020 annual report.