Manassas has seen some improvement in their crime rates over the last year.
The city recently released their 2014 annual crime report and found that with a population of 41,830 residents, that there are areas that have greatly improved – and some that still need improvement.
According to the report, there are around 21 crimes per 1,000 residents.
This rate is lower than the national rate reported by the FBI – but it is higher than nearby Prince William County, which has 16 crimes per every 1,000 residents.
While higher than Prince William, Manassas City has seen a decrease in their overall crime statistics, despite their growing population.
From 2000 to 2009, the crime rate in the city was 33 to 41 crimes, according to the city’s report.
The report stated that there has been a 12% decrease in serious crime, an 11% decrease in reports, but a 16% increase in domestic violence-related events, a 65% decrease in graffiti, and a 12% decrease in DUI cases.
One area of the report that showed an increase was response times. According to the city’s crime report, there was a 1 to 18-second increase for the response times of police officers, depending on the severity of the incident.
Manassas City Chief of Police Doug Keen stated that the city has made an effort with several programs and initiatives to reduce the crime rates in the city.
“In 2014 we focused a lot of resources on Crime Prevention. Adrienne Helms, our Crime Prevention Specialist, hosted classes for Neighborhood Watch, How not to be a Victim, RADD, Property Security Assessments, reviewed plans under the CPTED guidelines (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) and met with many HOA’s to discuss how they can contribute to building safer communities. In addition to these programs, we focused our enforcement efforts on ‘hot spots’ using live data through our Crime Analyst, Terri Hines. We coupled this with our ongoing Community Policing philosophy and building stronger relationships with our residents and business owners- who are our first line of defense on what “belongs” in their neighborhood. We will try to improve and build on these programs in 2015,” said Keen.
