Violent crimes in Prince William County dropped by more than 20 percent in 2008, Police Chief Charlie Deane said Wednesday.
In 2008, 485 violent crimes were reported, including murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. That was down 21.8 percentfrom the 620 violent crimes committed in 2007, Deane said.
He added that the overall crime rate of 20.1 percent was “significantly below” the five-year average in the county, though it rose slightly from 19.8 percent in 2007.
Property crimes, which include burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, rose 5.8 percent in 2008, from about 6,900 to about 7,300.
“Even before property crimes began to increase, [Deane] warned us that, as the economy sank, that we could expect an uptick in the number of property crimes from the community,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-at large.
Deane also presented the first report of significant length about the effect of the county’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Overall, 63, or 3.5 percent, of the 1,802 people arrested for major crimes — which include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft — were found to be illegal immigrants, Deane said.
Of all people arrested or issued a summons in the county, 1.7 percent were illegal immigrants, and 7.8 percent of all those taken into custody were illegal.
While the overall crime statistics include those in all of 2008, the data for crime by illegal immigrants start in March, when the county began its crackdown.
“We are going to protect crime victims regardless of their immigration status,” Deane said, adding that he was still concerned that immigrants are not reporting crime, and he encouraged victims, regardless of immigration status, to report them.
“We practice what we preach. We’re going to be fair, lawful and reasonable as to how we carry out this responsibility,” he said of illegal immigration enforcement, stressing that the department was “sending a positive message to the public that we are to be trusted.”
Stewart touted the county’s aggressive illegal immigration policy when talking about the drop in the number of violent crimes.
“[The policy is] the only significant difference between Prince William and other jurisdictions in Northern Virginia,” he said.
But the report said that it was possible that some of the reduction in reported crime may be due to a lower reporting rate among Hispanics and African-Americans.
