RVA 5x5 - January 28, 2023

Level of Leadership; Annual Crime Briefing Numbers; Richmond Had A Chance - The Voters Spoke; The Mission Continues; A Green CDA.

No algorithms. No content filters. Honest and insightful analysis from Richmond, VA.

STORY #1 — Annual Crime Briefing Numbers
The Police Department held their annual crime review briefing this week and the numbers were positive on the surface, a little mixed in total, and almost miraculous considering the force has more than 150 vacancies.

Mark Bowes writes in the Times-Dispatch that “The good news for the city of Richmond from a crime perspective last year was a 37% drop in homicides (from 90 to 57) and a 17% reduction in robberies of persons. The numbers of reported rapes, aggravated assaults and commercial robberies rose in 2022 over the preceding year, but overall violent crime was flat, the chief said, dropping about 1% from 1,099 reported offenses to 1,087.

However, some more disturbing trends were the 33 incidents of shootings with more than one victim (80 people total in 33 shootings - recall the one shooting last summer Broad Street with six shooting victims). That was up from 3…