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Charlotte Sees Spike In Violent Crime, Decrease In Burglaries

It was a busy year for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.  The city's crime rate increased by nearly three percent – in large part because of jumps in robberies and domestic violence. But there was some good news in the numbers released Wednesday. 

First there was a significant decrease in burglaries. For example, west Charlotte saw a 20 percent decrease in residential burglaries compared to 2011. Captain Greg Collins credits its partnership with the community and new technology for helping bring that down.

Credit Tasnim Shamma
The CMPD saw a 2.8 percent increase in crime from 2011.

"In 2008, the Freedom Division and our citizens suffered through 802 residential burglaries that year," Collins says. "Through a lot of hard work, both by our officers and our concerned citizens through innovative plans, through improvements in technology such as electronic monitoring and crime mapping, we turned the tide beginning in 2009."

Now the bad news. The number of robberies increased 30 percent at the west Charlotte division, while violent crime jumped by more than 20 percent in that area. And throughout the city, CMPD reports there was a 9.5 percent increase in violent crime. (Read the full report with detailed statistics for each division here).   

Police chief Rodney Monroe attributes much of that to domestic violence. There was also a slight decrease in the number of murders. There were 52 homicides in 2012, down three from the previous year.