New numbers are out showing crime was down last year in most categories in Danville. Bill Pickett has the numbers…
Total crime incidents fell 18.5 percent to 1,989.
Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates noted citizens spoke out over five years ago about areas where they wanted improvement….
{AUDIO: “It was very clear by the community what they wanted us to work on. And so we’ve maintained those numbers and kept track of them very closely, and we’re seeing improvements. We’re not satisfied with any of that. We’re happy with the trend but we’ve got more work to do.}
Domestic batteries are one category where numbers improved. Chief Yates thinks police working closely with social service agencies has helped….
{AUDIO: “A lot of open conversation, and I think just being able to rely…between the police and social services work together and try to find resources for people. We don’t know whether it’s that. We don’t know whether it’s training. But we think a combination – as well as public education saying ‘hey – it’s okay. Let us know what it is.’ And we’re going to take it as far as we can and go for prosecution and provide the best cases to the State’s Attorney’s Office that we can.”
The new report shows thefts and residential burglaries in Danville both fell by more than 28-percent last year. [There were 198 theft reports in 2025 compared to 277 in 2024. Residential burglaries dropped from 170 in 2024 to 121 last year.] Aggravated battery reports were up – climbing from 309 in 2024 to 316 last year. Shootings where there was a victim dropped from 21 in 2024 to 13 last year. Reports of shots fired were down 38 percent last year.
Chief Yates believes one thing that has helped is the city council’s decision to place more security safety cameras in strategic locations…
{AUDIO: “Everyone of our parks have darn near 100-percent coverage on video cameras and being able to respond if we have an issue out there. But also, you know, there’s additional cameras throughout our community. A lot of them within our retail areas. A lot of them in high crime areas – and they’ve been very helpful.”}
Both robberies and armed robberies dropped from 26 in 2024 to 13 last year. The number of homicide victims dropped from 5 to 4.
{In the photo above are Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr. on left, Alderman Rick Strebing (chairman of the Public Services Committee in the middle), and Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates at the committee’s meeting on January 27, 2026.)
