Garner Police Department 2019 Annual Report Published August 2020 | Page 22

Crime in Garner
ONE OF THE HALLMARKS that most
governments, citizens, and many prospective
residents look to in evaluating a community is
crime and the perception of crime among residents.
The Garner Police Department recognizes that crime
control is one of our critical missions.
However, it is important to make the distinction
between the totality of crime and the subset of crimes
that are reported, and therefore become known to the
police. Although there are many factors that influence
the reporting of crime, it is generally accepted that
only a modest percentage of crime is ever reported to
the police. The law enforcement community’s primary
objective with regards to the collection and analysis of
crime data is to provide a reliable set of crime statistics
for criminal justice and law enforcement administration,
operation, and management. This data is also used to
provide an objective measurement and indication of
the overall level of crime in our community.
CRIME REPORTING
The Garner Police Department transitioned to the
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
on November 1, 2018. NIBRS was implemented to
improve the overall quality of crime data collected
by law enforcement. NIBRS captures details on each
single crime incident—as well as on separate offenses
within the same incident—including information
on victims, known offenders, relationships between
victims and offenders, arrestees, and property involved
crimes. 2019 was the first full year of crime reporting
for the police department to NIBRS.
All crime-related statistical data can be found at the
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations website
at http://crimereporting.ncsbi.gov. This site contains
all current and historical data for the Garner Police
Department.
In 2019, the department saw a small (.61%) reduction in
total number of Part One crimes reported (see graphic
below). These crimes, which are separated into violent
crimes and property crimes, include the following
offenses: murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery,
burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. There was
a 19% reduction in the total number of burglaries,
but there was a 4.9% increase in larcenies. Robberies
stayed the same while motor vehicle theft increased
only slightly. Please see the graphics below and on the
following page for more details.
2019 Crime Rates
42.10
9.06
1.43
33.03
Part 1 crimes per 1,000 in population
Part 1 person crimes per 1,000 in population
Part 1 violent crimes per 1,000 in population
Part 1 property crimes per 1,000 in population
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GARNER POLICE DEPARTMENT 2019 ANNUAL REPORT