Recap of February Happenings Meeting: Crime in Review

On Tuesday, Feb. 16th at 6:30 p.m., LU hosted our February “Happenings” meeting, with a focus on recent crime trends. Dr. Heath Johnson from the Bureau of Police led a presentation on crime statistics for Lawrenceville in 2020 compared to 5-year averages. Lieutenant Lackner, Acting Commander of Zone 2 Police, provided an update on recent issues of concern, including a murder on the 4400 block of Davison Street, the arrests related to the bomb explosion in Lower Lawrenceville, and more. LU also provided some community updates.

Some key takeaways from the conversation with the Police:

• Following City trends, total crime in Lawrenceville went down significantly in 2020 from the previous year (15%) and from the 5-year average (28%).
• Violent crimes in Lawrenceville, however, went up by 14% in 2020, driven by an increase in robberies. There was also a murder on Kent Way. Zone 2 Police provided context that the robberies were largely people known to each other. Even this increase in violent crime in 2020 represents a 39% decrease over the 5 year average. No arrests have been made in the murder on Kent Way and the investigation is ongoing.
• Property crimes were down 31% in 2020 from the previous year and 43% from the 5 year average, driven by reduction in Burglary & Theft.
• Part II (less serious) crimes were also down 6% from the previous year. In particular, the year saw big decreases in simple assault, DUIs, and public drunkenness. However, 2020 saw an increase in vandalism and disorderly conducts.
• Heroin overdoses dropped significantly since highs in 2017, however have been increasing year by year since.
• Regarding the murder on Davison Street, police believe this was not a random shooting. While they have made no arrest yet, they have a suspect, who they believe was in the car at the time of the case, and they are building a case.
• Regarding the bomb incident in Lower Lawrenceville, an arrest was made with federal charges, and they believe the threat has been removed from the neighborhood.

To access all the materials from the meeting:

• Watch the full recording of the meeting by Zoom HERE or by Facebook Live HERE.
• View LU’s presentation HERE.
• View Dr. Johnson’s presentation on crime trends in Lawrenceville for 2020 HERE.