GREENSBORO, N.C. — As 2023 comes to an end, police chiefs are taking a look at violent crime data. While Triad homicide rates are breaking records in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, it's not all bad.
"It's really kind of a tale of two stories as it relates to our crime," said Greensboro Police Chief, John Thompson.
So far in 2023, Greensboro and Winston-Salem police departments are reporting record-breaking homicide rates. Greensboro with 69 and Winston-Salem with 42.
"It's been a frustrating year as it pertains to homicides. We know that's what people talk about and that's what people hear about. So, not happy at all," explained Winston-Salem Police Chief, William Penn Jr.
However, chiefs Thompson and Penn assure the majority of those homicides happen between two people who know each other.
"There's been some relationship, now that relationship could be a domestic relationship, could be a familiar relationship, sometimes it may be gang-related," explained Chief Thompson.
But not all the data is bad, actually, the majority of it is trending in the right direction. When looking at the numbers, nearly every other violent crime sub-division is down from 2022.
"Our robberies are down, our aggravated assaults which includes shootings when there's not a homicide, our larcenies, our motor vehicle theft," said Chief Penn. Both chiefs think these lower numbers could be a result of in-place strategies like putting repeat offenders in jail.
"We concentrate on those folks, those violent folks in our community what we call trigger pullers," said Chief Penn.
As 2023 comes to an end, there are some events that will stick with them past the new year.
"We've lost five individuals, five young individuals this year, that sticks with me. You're right, there was a weekend in June when we had ten shootings within a 48-hour period that stands out," recalled Chief Penn.
"It impacts me on a level when I wake up and see that we've lost another life in the city of Greensboro, I feel like sometimes I'm not doing as well as I need to be in my job and I always question and wonder what else we could be doing better," said Chief Thompson.
By this time in 2024, Chief Thompson hopes to see 2023's programs and protocols come to fruition helping to decrease the annual homicide rate.
Looking forward to next year, Chief Penn hopes to continue building trust within the community, strengthening relationships with stakeholders, and working on advancing technology within the community.