Chief shares crime report
By John Joyce
Published in News on February 20, 2013 1:46 PM
Goldsboro has seen a marked increase in murders -- nearly double.
But it was the rest of the crime statistics that Goldsboro police Chief Jeff Stewart highlighted during his recent presentation at the the Goldsboro City Council.
Across the board, he said, crime was down.
Stewart unveiled the department's yearly statistical analysis, called the Uniform Crime Report, a data reporting method used by law enforcement agencies nationwide to measure crime.
According to that metric, homicides were up 86 percent in 2012.
The final tally of 13 murders committed within the city limits was six more than the previous year's seven, nearly double.
Rapes, too, were up -- 50 percent -- but that rise reflects only an increase of one over 2011. The number of cases reported in 2012 climbed from two to three.
All other areas showed reductions in crimes reported, including burglaries and larcenies.
"First-degree burglary is a break-in that happens at night, while the home or building is occupied," Stewart said. Second-degree burglary, he said, is "still at night, but not occupied." Breaking and entering is simply that, he said, anyone breaking into any structure, as long as it is during the day.
Stewart emphasized the difference in the way burglary is defined by the state of North Carolina versus the way the percentages are tallied for a crime report.
"For the purposes of the crime report, 'burglary' refers to residence only, a dwelling," Stewart said.
When asked about the high volume of reports of motor vehicle break-ins, property stolen from people's yards and the amount of copper stolen last year, the chief said those all fell into the larceny category.
There were 589 reported burglaries in 2012, 1,655 larcenies. Those are reductions of 13 and 11 percent, respectively.
The council raised no questions during the presentation of the statistical analysis.