The Wilmington Police Department’s 2022 Year-End Crime Report released this week shows the lowest number of murders in 15 years, and the second lowest number of shooting incidents in 17 years.
Chief Robert Tracy presented results to the Wilmington Public Safety Committee Tuesday night.
“We are down 58% in murders from last year and we're also down over 50% in murders from where we were five years ago," Tracy says. "And it went down with every crime category with the exception of rape, which there’s six rapes this year versus five last year, but substantially down almost 81% from where we were five years ago.”
Tracy adds that the department is taking record numbers of guns off the streets as well – recording a 30% reduction in shooting incidents and a 29% reduction in shooting victims over the last year.
Tracy says although auto theft has decreased, they are still struggling with catalytic converters.
“Because of the amount it costs to replace them and the chemicals that are in that, their properties cost a lot of money, and certain vehicles get hit, and we’re starting to make more arrests, we’re working with our regional and national partners in law enforcement any time we make an arrest to bring it back to where they’re selling them.”
Tracy says the police department is returning to normalcy after the pandemic, school closures, and civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
The report also touts community outreach and engagement, including bigger turnouts at National Night Out, expanding the Youth Police academy, school and community visits, and launching a Community Outreach Walk initiative.
This is Tracy’s last week as Wilmington Chief of Police before he moves to a new position in St. Louis.
