RICHMOND – Virginia’s official and only comprehensive report on local and statewide crime figures for 2023, titled Crime in Virginia, is now available online at the Virginia State Police website on the VSP CJIS Data Analysis & Reporting Team page.  Crime in Virginia continues to provide precise rates and occurrences of crimes committed in towns, cities, and counties across the Commonwealth.  The report breaks down criminal offenses and arrests by reporting agency.

Violent crime includes the offenses of murder, forcible sex offenses (rape, sodomy, and sexual assault with an object), robbery, and aggravated assault.  Overall, the violent crime rate increased in 2023 to 207.5 crimes (per 100,000 population) from 203 in 2022.  20,824 violent crime offenses were reported in 2023 compared to 20,549 violent crime offenses reported in 2022, representing a 1.3% increase.

The following 2023 crime figures in Virginia are presented in the report:

  • Although the violent crime rate increased slightly, the number of reported homicides decreased significantly from 621 to 520 (16.3%).  The murder/non-negligent manslaughter rate declined from 7.14 in 2022 to 5.96 in 2023 (per 100,000 population).  Victims and offenders tended to be younger males; 40.6% of homicide victims were men between 18 and 34, and 48.8% of known offenders were men between 18 and 34.  Nearly half (48.5%) of all homicides occurred at a residence/home.
  • Motor vehicle thefts and attempted thefts increased 8% compared to 2022.  During 2023, 15,320 motor vehicles were reported stolen in 14,859 offenses.  In 2023, 9,113 motor vehicles were recovered (vehicles may have been stolen before 2023).  Of all motor vehicles stolen, 34% were taken from the residence/home.  The reported value of all motor vehicles stolen was $203,165,572.
  • Drug arrests increased overall by 18%.  The number of arrestees in the under-18 age range increased by 51% from 2022 to 2023.  Between 2022 and 2023, reports of both cocaine and crack cocaine seizures increased by 43% and 39%, respectively, while reports of narcotics seizures increased by 42%.
  • Burglary decreased by 3.3% between 2022 and 2023.  In 2022, there were 10,860 burglaries and attempted burglaries, whereas in 2023, there were 10,501.  Other than a slight increase in 2022, burglaries have continued to trend downward over the last decade.
  • Fraud offenses increased by 2.7% compared to 2022.  Over three-quarters of victims were individuals (75.7%), and 16.4% were businesses. Nearly a quarter (24.1%) of fraud victims were over 65 years old.
  • Of the known weapons reported for violent crimes, firearms were used in 83.3% of homicides and 43.1% of robberies.  Firearms were used in more than one-third (34.4%) of aggravated assault cases.
  • There were 271 hate crime incidents involving 275 offenses, with 325 individual victims reported by contributing agencies in 2023.  The remaining hate crimes include victims that are categorized as Businesses or Religious Organizations. Hate crime incidents increased by 48.9% compared to 2022.
  • Most hate crimes (66.4%) were racially or ethnically motivated.  However, the most significant percent increase in hate crimes between 2022 and 2023 involved bias against religion (177.8%), followed by bias against race/ethnicity (72.2%).  Of all reported bias-motivated crimes, 76.3% were assault offenses (aggravated assault, simple assault) or destruction/damage/vandalism of property.

The report employs an Incident-Based Reporting (IBR) method for calculating offenses, thus allowing for greater accuracy. IBR divides crimes into two categories:  Group A for serious offenses, including violent crimes (murder, forcible sex offenses, robbery, and aggravated assault), property crimes, and drug offenses, and Group B for less serious offenses such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, and liquor law violations where an arrest has occurred.

Per state mandate, the Department of Virginia State Police primarily collects crime data from participating Virginia state and local police departments and sheriff’s offices.  The data are collected by the Virginia State Police Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division via a secured internet system.  This information is then compiled into Crime in Virginia, an annual report for use by law enforcement, elected officials, media, and the general public.  These data serve as the official crime statistics for the Commonwealth.  They are transmitted to the FBI for inclusion in their annual report, Crime in the United States, and published on the FBI Crime Data Explorer website.