Crime certainly still happens in Wilmington, but recent reports show that it has hit a 13-year low. The crime statistics explored below are the ones from 2020, the latest year for which complete statistics have been compiled by the Wilmington Police Department, unless otherwise noted.
That still means that police officers get about 400 calls every day. That’s certainly a heavy workload each 24 hours for a department that is sometimes short-staffed. But it still appears that crime has been trending down for over a decade now, especially considering violent crime.
A 4% drop
Technically speaking, the overall crime rate dropped by 4% in the most recent stats. That is the lowest that has been found since back in 2009. The study confirming this was done by an analyst with the police department who has more than 30 years of experience.
In terms of totals, there were 41 fewer incidents in 2022 than the police department saw in 2021. If considering violent crime alone, the decrease was around 6%, which is greater than the overall decrease for all types of crime.
Interestingly, the city’s population has only been going up. When comparing the current stats to those from 2009, the population has increased by a total of 24%. Crime, at the same time, has dropped by 44%. One would think that having more people in the city would lead to more arrests and more criminal activity, but this is not been shown to be the case.
Criminal defense options
That being said, there are still 400 calls every 24 hours. People are being arrested for alleged criminal activity, ranging from theft to violent crime. Police have said, for example, that they have seen a significant amount of shoplifting, breaking and entering, larceny and people breaking into automobiles. They also had to respond to 11 homicides, and 13 people lost their lives.
As such, those who have been accused of these types of activities need to be sure that they understand all the criminal defense options that they have available to them. A conviction can have a drastic impact on a person’s future, so they must know what steps to take and what legal rights they have. Seeking legal guidance can provide this clarity.