Police say violent crime in downtown Raleigh has decreased, but more action is needed

Raleigh police announced Thursday that violent crime in their downtown district has decreased overall compared to the same period last year.

According to the police department, police responded to 129 calls related to violent crimes, about 22% fewer than the same time in 2023. During the same period in 2023, Raleigh police reported 166 violent crimes.

Their statistics include the following violent crimes:

• Murder, manslaughter and non-negligent homicide
• Attacks
• Robbery

According to Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson, a concerted effort to send more officers to the GoRaleigh bus station near Moore Square has contributed to the decline in violent crime downtown.

“This will give some of our officers more time to focus more on the violent crime we are seeing,” she said.

There was one murder downtown this year. However, citywide, Raleigh is expected to see more murders this year than in 2023.

Kerwin Pittman, a Raleigh resident, said there is room for more programs in Raleigh that provide mental health care, access to jobs, affordable housing and other services. He believes if more help was given to offenders, those numbers would go down.

“We need to address the root causes of why these individuals commit their crimes in the first place,” Pittman said. “Until we do that, it will be a vicious cycle.”

According to Patterson, there were 19 murders in the first eight months of 2024, an increase of about 12% from the previous year.

Although the number of murders is increasing, Patterson said Raleigh police have a 95% clearance rate and are looking for ways to improve those numbers.

“We are constantly looking for ways to reduce the number of violent crimes, especially murders, in this community,” Patterson said.

While violent crime decreased, thefts and confiscated firearms increased. In 2024, Raleigh police responded to 142 car thefts, up 27% from 2023. Police said Kias and Hyundais were the primary targets.

“We're seeing a crime of opportunity here,” said Lt. John Black, head of the Auto Theft Task Force. “We're seeing cars left unlocked. [and] Keys are forgotten in the car.”

Police created the task force in June after officers noticed that the number of car thefts skyrocketed between 2022 and 2023.

Black said officers seized other items, including firearms, drugs and cash. Black said stolen cars are more likely to be used in violent crimes.

According to police, the department's auto theft task force seized 41 cars valued at $790,000. Patterson said that while violent crime has decreased, she hopes there will be improvements in auto thefts downtown.

“[We’re] We are trying to reduce car thefts in the city by 5%,” she said.