From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Crime in Asheville “has dropped over the past two years, but many say perception still lags behind reality,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported on Oct. 8.

The Asheville Police Department’s latest data shows that “overall arrests are down about 4 percent since 2020, and violent crime has fallen 28 percent since its 2022 peak,” News 13 noted. “Yet quality of life reports, including trespassing, disorderly conduct and drug-related calls, are climbing”.

To that end, Asheville Police Chief Mike Lamb told the TV station, “We’ve still had shootings that happen. Sometimes ,you have quality-of-life issues, where someone may be in mental crisis. They may not be breaking the law, but they can create an environment where people feel unsafe.”

News 13 noted, “Police data show violent crime fell from 560 cases in 2022 to 326 so far this year. The drop is largely driven by a 41 percent decline in aggravated assaults.”

Lamb told News 13, “We have groups of individuals that get in disagreements, an altercation happens, then a shooting happens, and then there’s retaliatory shootings.”

Regarding shootings and retaliatory shootings, Lamb asserted, “A lot of those involve gangs and the illegal drug trade — and we have a lot of youth offenders involved in that.”

News 13 noted, “APD data show juvenile crime is up 21 percent since 2020 and five times higher than its 2021 low. The department logged 158 juvenile cases this year, compared to 140 in 2020.”

In response, Lamb said that “addressing youth violence will require broader community involvement,” the station stated.

Lamb added,“It’s important for the community to come together and find solutions. We need enrichment activities and alternatives to keep young people from going down that drug or gang lifestyle.”

To that end, News 13 stated, “While property crimes are down 26 percent since 2020, APD is solving fewer of them. The clearance rate for home burglaries has dropped from 90 percent in 2020 to about 60 percent this year. Business break-ins show a similar decline, from 85 percent solved to just 57 percent...

“Since 2023, APD has logged more than 1,400 ‘quality-of-life’ calls downtown, covering everything from trespassing to panhandling to public disturbances.”

Those numbers are climbing rapidly, as News 13 noted the following:

• Trespassing reports jumped from 72 in 2023 to 121 this year, up 68 percent.

• Disorderly conduct climbed from 9 to 19, up 111 percent.

• Drug-related calls more than doubled from 18 to 40, up 122 percent.

Lamb told News 13, “When you have more officers, you have more of a perception of safety. But it also helps reduce crime as well.”

While APD does not track “homelessness” as a crime category, News 13 said APD records show over 3,500 incidents since 2023 involving people listed with no permanent address or a local service location, including the following:

• Violent crimes involving unhoused individuals have fallen about 34 percent.

• Property crimes are down 13 percent.

• Trespassing and public disturbance calls have risen 13 percent in the same period.

“Lamb said APD previously explored a ‘co-responder’ model pairing officers with mental health professionals and outreach workers, but staffing shortages delayed that plan,” News 13 reported.

Lamb told the TV station, “When 2020 hit, COVID, the riots, and resignations, those plans had to be put on standby. As our staffing increases, we hope to bring that back to help address these concerns.”