Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office releases mid-year crime stats

Posted on — Community Bulletin

Press release from Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is seeing a stable decline in major crime categories from January 1 to July 1 in 2021 as compared to the first half of 2020.

Larceny/theft is down 2%, breaking and enterings are down 18% and non-sexual assaults are down 3%.

To date, there have been two homicides in 2021 for the reporting jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office. In 2020, there were a total of three, with two of those coming in the first half of the year. All five of the homicides that have taken place during 2020 and 2021 have resulted in the Sheriff’s Office bringing charges against a suspect.

As part of the Sheriff’s Office enforcement strategy under Sheriff Miller, there has been a focus on arresting individuals who are doing the most harm to the community and are engaging in widespread criminal activity. A number of individuals who have been arrested by the Sheriff’s Office on drug trafficking charges in the past two years fit this pattern. Both Joseph James Ciancio II and George Campbell IV who were arrested in separate high-level drug trafficking cases, each have significant prior criminal histories. Both have now been sentenced to prison for their drug trafficking crimes.

This new enforcement strategy appears to be paying off with a lower crime rate as reflected in the drop in crime rates so far in 2021.

“Thank you to all of our Deputies, Detention Officers and administrative staff who have contributed to this reduction in crime as a result of their hard work. We have been intentional in investigating high-level drug trafficking that is going on in our community and we are now starting to see the results. The number of arrests for violent, repeat offenders has been significant and that does not happen without a lot of good law enforcement work,” says Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller.

SHARE
About Community Bulletin
Mountain Xpress posts selected news and information of local interest as a public service for our readers. To submit press releases and other community material for possible publication, email news@mountainx.com.
View all posts by Community Bulletin →

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office releases mid-year crime stats”

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.