New figures compiled by Danville Police show improvement for most of 12 different crime areas over the past quarter. Danville Police Chief Christopher Yates says Aggravated Assaults were down 6-percent when you compare May through August of this year to the same period last year.
Burglaries were down 8-percent this year. Gunshot victims fell by 65-percent. Home Invasions are down 25-percent compared to the same period last year. And Robberies are down 150-percent. Arrests for Possession of Controlled Substances more than doubled, going from 24 during the period last year to 52 this year.
Chief Yates told the Danville City Council Public Services Committee there are areas of concern. Domestic Battery reports are up 20-percent over the same period a year ago. And Sexual Assaults have almost doubled. Chief Yates says the increase in domestic cases is partially because of policy changes made within the department. And although many people spent more time at home due to the COVID pandemic, Chief Yates says there is no way to know whether that impacted sexual assaults and domestic violence numbers.
Another area of concern is Traffic Crashes. There were 417 crashes this year in Danville during the period May through August. The number is up from last year’s 398 accidents.
Chief Yates says distracted driving and speeding are the top two causes for those crashes.
