Virginia saw 7% decrease in violent crime offenses in 2024: report

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A new report indicates Virginia has seen a decrease in violent crime offenses and victims -- particularly with homicides and motor vehicle thefts which are down significantly since 2023.

According to a new report from the Virginia State Police, the Commonwealth recorded 16,853 violent offenses and 19,480 victims of violent crime in 2024, compared to 18,116 offenses and 20,824 victims in 2023 -- a 7% decrease in violent crime offenses and 6.5% decrease in the number of victims year-over-year.

Violent crimes includes murder, rape -- including sodomy and sexual assault with an object -- robbery and aggravated assault.

Homicides

The report shows that reported homicides have fallen from 520 to 421, a 19% decrease and downward trend since 2022.

The murder and non-negligent manslaughter rate declined from 5.96% in 2023 to 4.78% in 2024, according to state police.

Authorities said most victims and offenders tended to be young men. Nearly 40% of homicide victims were men between 18 and 24, while 53% were known offenders between ages 18 and 34. Nearly half of all murders happened at home, per the report.

According to police, firearms were used in 86.6% of reported homicides involving known weapons.

Motor vehicle thefts, attempted thefts

Police said that motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts decreased 15.4% compared to 2023, the report found.

They reported 12,959 motor vehicles were reported stolen in 12,599 offenses last year. In 2024, 7,582 motor vehicles were recovered, marking a 16.8% decrease over the 9,113 vehicles recovered in 2023, according to police.

Drugs

In 2024, there were a total of 14,335 drug-related arrests. According to Virginia State Police, that is a 7.2% from the year before, with the largest decrease in the 18 to 24 age group at 22.1%. Arrests involving people aged 65 and older increased by 41.7% over 2023.

Heroin seizures have decreased 65.2% since 2019, according to the report.

Burglary

Burglaries and attempted burglaries fell by 10.6% over the year, decreasing from 10,501 police in 2023 to 9,391 in 2024.

The report notes that overall burglary offenses dropped by 58.5% between 2014 and 2024.

Fraud

Fraud also decreased by a smaller margin, with police noting these offenses decreased by 5.8% compared to 2023. There were 38,731 instances of fraud or attempted fraud reported in 2024.

People accounted for 75.9% of victims, while businesses comprised 16.4%. More than a quarter (26.5%) were age 65 or older.

Hate crimes

Police reported 340 hate crime incidents involving 344 offenses, with 377 individual victims reported by contributing agencies in 2024, though hate crime incidents increased by 25.5% compared to 2023.

Most hate crimes -- 59.3% -- were racially or ethnically motivated. However, religiously motivated crimes more than doubled largely owed to a sharp increase in hate crimes involving anti-Jewish bias -- from 33 in 2023 to 84 in 2024.

Of all reported bias-motivated crimes, 91.5% were assault offenses -- aggravated assault, simple assault -- or destruction, damage or vandalism of property. Vandalism-related hate crime incidents increased 63.3%.

To read the full report, visit Virginia State Police's website.