The Danville Police Department says violent crime was down 20% in 2022 compared to 2021. The department also reports that gang related incident reports were down 16.1%.

The average number of violent crimes in Danville is down over the last four years from the previous four. From 2015 to 2018 Danville averaged over 265 violent crimes a year. Since 2019 that average is down to 127 violent crimes per year. Police Chief Scott Booth detailed what has helped the department combat violent crime during last night’s city council meeting.

“We do something we call stratified policing,” said Booth, “which is an accountability model. We hold everybody in the police department from me all the way down to that front line officer responsible for crime. We have a very robust community policing model. Community engagement is a very big part of what we do and we are very focused on violent offenders in our community.”

The department also conducted 87 youth and community engagement events in 2022. In 2023 the department will be implementing Boys to Men, a new program aimed to show boys what it means to be a man, and offer them guidance before they become adults. Community Engagement is actively seeking volunteers to work with the department throughout the city.