HIGH POINT, N.C. — Violent crime has risen at a troubling rate throughout the Triad this year.
Greensboro and Winston-Salem have both seen a sharp increase in homicides.
As of July 27th, Greensboro police reported 43 homicides year to date, eclipsing the 41 from all of 2022.
On the other hand, High Point has seen a decrease in violent crime.
"We are sitting at a 5% decrease on our impact crimes. That's pretty phenomenal for August 1," said High Point Police Chief Travis Stroud. "That means we're 5% better than we were this time last year. Clearly, our people are doing something right in the street."
Chief Stroud credits the work of his department, despite being short 36 officers.
"When you end up charging the right people and remove them from the street and get them into the criminal justice system., crime tends to go down inside your communities. While we've been very successful with it, some of our neighbor's stats may be different, but that does not mean that they have not been doing the same things," Chief Stroud shared.
High Point police have broken down their "impact crimes" into two categories, persons impact crimes and property impact crimes.
"Persons impact" crimes include homicides, rape, robbery, and aggravated assaults.
"Property impact" crimes include burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny, and shoplifting.
Chief Stroud said while homicides and aggravated assaults are down, property crimes are up.
"Burglaries, motor vehicle B&E's, is a trend that we have not seen before. Our property crimes are the ones that we are really trying to get under control. We would be better off if we did not have any property crimes," Chief Stroud said.
Rhonda Wagner with High Point Community Against Violence said, "Are we going to stop the violence? No. But at least we can put a curve in it,"
Her organization partners with the police department to mentor offenders and youth, in an effort to reverse the rising trend.
"Whether it's an adult or it's the youth we have to listen to those individuals and see what their needs are first. That's the only way that it's going to be successful," Wagner said.
Chief Stroud says his officers will continue to remain diligent, enforcing the laws of the state in an effort to maintain the declining trends.
"While we are -5 today, things can change very quickly in this business. I have learned that the hard way. Hopefully, the rest of the year will continue to trim as it has been now, but there are no guarantees on that," Chief Stroud said.
Chief Stroud said he will be requesting approval from the city council for a new real-time crime center.
He said that will be one additional tool that will allow officers to better respond to crime throughout the city.