ASHEVILLE, N.C. —  Violent crime in Asheville is down 37 percent compared to this time last year, Asheville Police Chief Mike Lamb said during a city police update to the Asheville-based, pro-business Council of Independent Business Owners on Sept. 5 at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.

Lamb addressd CIBO, accompanied by — and with assistance from — Deputy Chief Sean Aardema, Deputy Chief Jackie Stepp and Captain Jonathan Brown, all of whom stood with him near the lectern.

Following a surprise announcement of his impending retirement (see adjoining story on this page for details), Lamb said,  “I’m going to talk about violent crime and property crime” in his police report to CIBO.

“We’re at a 37 percent reduction in overall violent crime,” coompared to this time last year, Lamb asserted.

“So the majority of gun crime (in the city) — usually it’s groups of individuals who are retaliating” against one another

Conversely, Lamb said, “Property crime is up slightly” from this time last year.

He then noted that “the reason we want accurate reporting on violent and property crimes is so that we can have our officers placed at the right place and at the right time.”

Next, Aardema, the deputy chief, reviewed the recently revised city panhandling ordinance. The last time they (zones where panhandling was restricted) were identified was 2003. We’re looking at expanding those zones....

“From business-owners” to many others, “we’re hearing from people from all over the city.”

Aardema said the APD is “trying to redirect the panhandlers to places that can help them with their needs — and to make it safer for everyone....”

Next, Stepp, also a deputy chief, discussed the APD’s compensation plans, relating to its effort to rebuild its severely understaffed unit by attracting and retaining officers. 

 “We’re trying to get that base salary higher, so that we can recruit even better.,” Stepp said, adding, “ I’m excited” with the progress made to date.

Further, she noted, “Fifteen (new officers) just hit the road who are in ‘field training’ with other officers. And we’ve got 21 (officers)  in class” — the stage before field training.

“It’s not all about compensation,” Stepp noted. “It’s not all about wages... It’s also about the support y’all continue to show in the community with the officers.”

At that point, Brown, an APD captain and head of the Citizens Police Academy, a one-week program that begin in mid-September, said, “I have about 30 applications, but about 28 seats... I’m not sure what we’ll do about that. We may slide in another chair or two…. Also, we’d love to partner with you. Please reach out to us...”

Following the reports from his top APD administrators, Lamb looked at his watch and quipped, “We got through that in about 12 minutes... We’ve got an amazing team at the Asheville Police Department.”

 At that point, many of the meeting attendees applauded with gusto.

Durng a 12-minute question-and-answer session that followed, an unidentified man asserted, “We’re talking about officers downtown... I’ve got people on Pack Square who say they never see an officer” from the APD patroling downtown.

Lamb replied, “We have an increase in officers downtown” that was made recently. “We’re getting a lot of complaints (downtown) at the transit center and at the DSS office” (aka the Buncombe County Health & Human Services office).

“So we’re very intentional to show more presence” with APD officers patroling downtown...

“We’re also boosting pay of downtown officers,” Lamb asserted.

An unidentified man congratulated Lamb and the APD for “the reduction in violent crime” in Asheville.

The man then asked about “repeat offenders — “How’s it work with the prosecutor team? What needs to change there?”

Lamb motioned for Aardema, the deputy chief, to respond. Aardem said that “repeat offenders” have been a big problem for the APD. “We decide which entity is best to get a particular individual off the street....”

Brian Gomper, a senior commercial lendor at Hometrust Bamk, noted that “President Trump has done an executive order saying cities can lose their funding if they don’t get the homeless off their streets. Are you guys aware of this?”

Lamb answered, “That didn’t really effect us. So there’s not a lot  of changes that will come from that here... I think for us locally it’s been a capacity issue...

“With trespassing, we can’t do anything with needles, trash, etc., left behind....

“I agree with you that we’re having issues with needle exchanges. There’s a plethora of needles out there. There are some just giving away needles, while is enabling....”

An unidentified  man asked, “You were saying property crimes ‘up’ and violent crimes ‘down. ‘What about nonviolent crimes?”

Lamb signaled for Brown, an APD captain, to field the question. Brown said, “I would say one of the biggest goals that we have at the APD is to build those external partnerships” with the community. 

In closing the Q&A session, Lamb pointed out that, “in addition to violent and property crimes, we (at the APD) track nuisance crimes as well — such as panhandling….”