So far, 2024 has been a banner year for the Martinsville Police Department, which is reporting a 36% drop in crime relative to this time last year.
Martinsville Police Chief Rob Fincher touted the crime drop during a recent community budget meeting, saying that the reduction coincides with a drop in crime experienced throughout 2023.
“It’s one of those things … I hate to discuss it because I feel like I’m going to jinx it,” Fincher said. “Anytime you get into double digits, it’s amazing.”
According to the department’s most recent annual crime report, the city saw a 19% dip in crime throughout 2023, compared to 2022. Property crimes, like larceny, were reduced from 238 in 2022 to 168 last year. Violent crimes like assault went from 208 in 2022 to 198 in 2023.
“We’re quite excited at the direction that we are going,” Fincher said. “We do things a little differently in the city as far as police officers go, working smarter.”
At the community budget meeting, Fincher said that certain aspects of Martinsville, namely its emphasis on education, created an ideal environment for his department to work toward reducing crime.
“I’m just a cheerleader,” Fincher said. “It’s the citizens and officers working together, who are wanting to drive forward. We can’t do it without education, that’s a key factor.”
Fincher described current students as “very polite, very interested in doing what’s right” and “some of the best I’ve seen in generations.”
Fincher said that this year’s 36% crime reduction was for what the department describes as Group A offenses, a broad category that encompasses both violent crimes and property crimes and includes murder, manslaughter, assault, shoplifting, purse snatching, arson and burglary.
Rob Poggenklass, the director of Virginia-based police reform nonprofit Justice Forward, said that these kinds of Group A offenses can go underreported.
Not every shoplifter is caught, and the police aren’t summoned to every act of violence, he said. It’s one of many reasons that other police departments he has studied might have experienced similar dips in crime rates, he said.
While Poggenklass doesn’t necessarily doubt Martinsvile’s numbers, he suggests it could be the result of a broader trend.
“Violent crime is down overall … across the board,” Poggenklass said, citing FBI studies showing a 5.7% national reduction in violent crime and 4.3% reduction in property crime between 2022 and 2023.
While not specifically referring to Martinsville, Poggenklass said in his experience that not accepting a dataset’s narrative on face value is the best way to understand it.
In 2023, the department also implemented a number of new technologies, like cameras and drones. Fincher said in at least one missing person case, he and his department were able to use drones. Ultimately, the person was found by two officers searching the woods, and not by the drones. This, according to Fincher, emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between the new and old.
“We still need boots on the ground,” Fincher said. “Technology is an important tool but it could never replace good people. And that is the goal we have at the police department. It isn’t just to fill spots with bodies. We want people who want to work in Martinsville, we want people to want to be police officers for the right reasons.”
Poggenklass also said that a high turnover rate could impact numbers, something Fincher said isn’t an issue for his department. Currently, the Martinsville Police Department has an officer vacancy rate of 2%.
“I can get picky,” Fincher said. “I don’t have to hire someone just to fill a spot. If I hire someone who wants to work in Martinsville, they are going to serve you right.”
Fincher later confirmed that he felt the 36% reduction was because of changes made in the department.
“Martinsville PD has instituted several things that I believe are the reasons for our reduction in numbers,” he said. “For one, we increased our community involvement and community patrols. This has increased our interactions and information shared by the citizens, making us a more responsive agency.”
Regardless of the explanation, residents welcomed the news.
“I’m thrilled about it,” Martinsville resident Ed Brozowski said at the community budget meeting. “I’m surprised that if there is a crime, how fast they can [apprehend] the suspect.”