Staff photo.
The Vestavia Hills Police Department cleared 224 out of 364 theft cases, Capt. Johnny Evans said, and cleared 142 of 197 fraud cases. In 2017, there were 352 cases of theft or unlawful breaking or entering of vehicles.
The city of Vestavia Hills again saw a low crime rate in 2018, Capt. Johnny Evans said.
Statistics aren’t 100 percent accurate, Evans said, as the state classifies incidents differently than the city, but overall, crime decreased last year, though there was an increase in some areas, according to statistics.
There were no homicides, Evans said, and one forcible sex incident. In 2017, there were six cases of sexual assault.
Fraud and theft were two of the most frequent crimes, Evans said. The Vestavia Hills Police Department cleared 224 out of 364 theft cases, Evans said, and cleared 142 of 197 fraud cases. In 2017, there were 352 cases of theft or unlawful breaking or entering of vehicles. That theft does not include robbery or burglary.
The police department considers a case “cleared” when someone has been arrested or warrants have been obtained, but a case can be “closed” when those actions are taken, when the victim declines to press charges or when it is determined that no crime has been committed, Evans said.
Most of the property crime in Vestavia is committed by people living outside of the city, Evans said.
“People will Google ‘highest-income areas’ in Alabama,” he said.
That search will direct would-be criminals to Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills, where they’ll often drive to and from other cities and as far as Georgia, Evans said. He noted that interstate system connecting central Alabama to central Georgia provides easy access to high-income places.
Still, along with other incidents, Evans said property crime decreased last year.
There were 385 drug cases, Evans said. That’s an increase from the 295 cases handled in 2017, but the drug problem hasn’t necessarily gotten worse, Evans said. Rather, police are processing and closing more cases, he said.
Police cleared 22 of 30 aggravated assaults in 2018, and handled 22 such cases in 2017, Evans said. Aggravated assault is more typically seen in fighting situations where it escalates to violence, Evans said.
There were 32 thefts of motor vehicles, with 29 of those cases being closed, and all three robberies were cleared, Evans said. There was a time where the city dealt with more robberies than in years past, but he said the rate has gone down in the past 10 years. In 2017 there were 18 cases of auto theft and four robberies, along with 55 burglaries. There were 85 burglaries in 2018, and Evans said he wasn’t sure what caused the increase.
The city dealt with one arson case, which has since been closed, Evans said.
The police department uses the statistics, which are sent by the state after VHPD sends in their list of incidents collected throughout the year.
“We look at it, and we kind of decide where we’re getting hit more and more,” Evans said.
In those areas, Evans said the police department will send extra patrols and change focal points, but he added there isn’t one part of Vestavia that is more dangerous than another.
There has been an increase in incidents at Liberty Park, but that’s just part of what comes with the increase of people living in the area, Evans said.
Evans, who joined Vestavia after working in Birmingham, said he still feels safe in the city.
“It was crazy [in Birmingham],” Evans said. “[It was a] whole different ball game.”
Overall, the city remains one of the safest in the state, Evans said.
“[The crime rate] is lower than it has been … since the 1970s,” Evans said.
The department is helped by the community, which Evans said works well with police officers in solving cases, as well as being able to network with other departments in the area.
