As anticipated by the police chief, some crime statistics rose in Wrightsville Beach for the period between April and June, as a fully-staffed force was able to respond to more calls for serious crimes and write more tickets to enforce town ordinances.
Wrightsville Beach saw 16 percent rise in “Part 1” crimes, a category that tracks mainly crimes that are called into police, including robbery, assault, burglary and larceny. The stats compare this year’s period between April and June with last year’s, showing more reported larcenies and motor vehicle thefts, but fewer burglaries and sexual assaults.
The statistics include a pair of armed robberies on Wrightsville Beach on June 11, prompting a late-night manhunt that wasn’t able to produce suspects for police.
Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House said he was anticipating a rise in some crime statistics, as his force was down as many as 10 officers last summer, which he believed impacted some numbers.
However, reports of “Part 2” crimes were down by nearly 30 percent, including a drop in assaults, disorderly conduct, fraud and drug violations. Reports of vandalism were down by almost half, with 18 reported over the past three month, as compared with 35 during the same period last year.
The biggest spike came in enforcement of town ordinances, which jumped 30 percent behind an increase in tickets for glass and alcohol on the beach.
At House’s quarterly “Chat with the Chief” meeting on July 21, a handful of residents from South Harbor Island thanked the town’s police for increased efforts to patrol the neighborhood. Neighbors’ concerns about the presence of drugs in the area prompted a meeting with police earlier this month, where establishment of a community watch was one of the issues discussed.
But at least three people from the neighborhood thanked police for stepping up patrols there in recent weeks, raising questions for the need of a neighborhood watch program there.
“We’re seeing them every hour,” one neighbor told House about the noticeable increase in patrols. “We can tell it’s a dedicated effort and it’s having great results.”
House encouraged residents to call police if there are any signs of criminal activity, something he said too many people don’t do quickly enough in many cases. While the “urgency without emergency” line of (910) 452-6120 can be used to reach Wrightsville Beach police, House said calling 911 is acceptable for any report of a crime, as the central emergency response system helps the police build a call log to track crime reports.
“We have a great group of officers working for us who are enthusiastic and really want to meet your needs,” House told the group.
See all of the crime stats here:
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