Arlington closed out 2025 with a sizable drop in crime, posting a 12 percent decline in overall offenses for the year, officials say. It was the city’s fourth straight annual decrease. Crimes against persons fell about 14 percent, property offenses dropped roughly 18 percent, and homicides dipped from 17 to 15. One category moved in the other direction, with an 11 percent rise in crimes against society, which leaders say reflects stepped-up enforcement activity rather than a reversal of the broader downward trend.
The totals come from the Arlington Police Department’s year-end data and the city’s January summary, which the department voluntarily submits to the FBI’s National Incident Based Reporting System. According to the City of Arlington, the overall reductions were driven largely by declines in assault, robbery and sex offenses.
Tech And Team-Ups Get The Nod
“Over the past four years, these reductions reflect the impact of deliberate investments in people, technology, and partnerships,” Chief of Police Al Jones said, according to the City of Arlington. The department points to an expanded Real Time Crime Center, along with a slate of community partnerships, as key parts of the strategy it believes is pushing crime numbers lower.
Drone As A First Responder
Those tech investments are increasingly airborne. The department has expanded its Drone as a First Responder program and became one of the first agencies to secure a Federal Aviation Administration waiver for beyond visual line of sight flights. The change allows remote pilots to launch drones from the Real Time Crime Center and get them to scenes more quickly. As reported by CBS News, the department now fields multiple drones and dozens of trained pilots, and industry outlets have flagged Arlington’s approach as part of a broader shift toward faster, data-driven responses. DroneDJ has covered the program’s rollout and the tactical docks stationed around the city.
Students Pry Open Cold Cases
The high-tech push is not the only change. In late 2025, APD launched a partnership with the University of Texas at Arlington that put 15 criminal justice and forensics students to work on three unsolved homicide cases. Their case reviews helped detectives generate new leads and, in one high-profile instance, contributed to an arrest in a 1991 killing. The program is detailed by The Dallas Morning News.
What The Numbers Leave Out
City officials caution that the encouraging headline numbers do not tell the whole story. The uptick in “crimes against society,” which includes drug, weapon and related offenses, is tied to a deliberate enforcement push. New tools like drones have also sparked ongoing debates about privacy and oversight from community groups that are still weighing the tradeoffs. The department says it is pairing its technology rollout with reporting and auditing requirements as it scales these programs…