Richmond Police Chief Testifying Today in Front of Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus is scheduled to testify today at the Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing in Phoenix, Arizona. Lt. Andre Hill said the chief is giving a brief presentation on the department’s history of building a community policing policy in the city.

“It’s about where we’ve come from, from a violent crime perspective to where we are now and some of the programs and partners we’ve partnered with to achieve that,” Hill said. Hill said the task force would be asking speakers to help guide future Department of Justice policies and funding priorities. The department’s policies have become the subject of media attention recently, including visits from the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Katie Couric of Yahoo Global News.

Last year, Richmond reported fewer than 1,000 violent crimes, the first time the city has seen numbers that low since 1995, Hill said. According to statistics provided by the Richmond Police Department, violent crime has dropped 23 percent over the past ten years and property crime has dropped roughly 40 percent. Homicides have seen a significant reduction.

There were 38 homicides in 2004 compared to 11 in 2014, the lowest number in the past decade. Some crimes, like aggravated assault and rape have remained relatively constant. Burglaries are an exception to the trend and have increased over the past decade, according to the Richmond Police Department.

By Bay City News

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