ASHEVILLE – Citywide crime has fallen after what police say was the implementation of data-driven strategies that pushed violent crime down 18% in 2023 and property crime down 13% compared to the prior year.
The declines were notable, according to an expert with John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
The Asheville Police Department released the figures ahead of a Jan. 23 City Council Environment and Safety Committee meeting. The numbers showed declines from a record-high of violent crimes ― homicide, aggravated assault, rape and robbery ― of 727 in 2022, the highest in a period starting in 2018. Last year there were 596 such violent incidents in city limits, the lowest of that six-year timeframe.
There were nine homicides in 2023, down from 12 the year prior, which matched the highest level since 2018 when 12 homicides were also recorded.
During that same six-year stretch property crimes peaked at 5,788 in 2019 and have declined every year since, dipping to 4,100 last year.
The six-year lows follow the national upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, police turnover that has left 38% of positions vacant, outcry from downtown merchants and others over what they said was the city center’s increased dangerousness and the resignation of APD Chief David Zack in December after three years on the job.