Durham County crime rate 6th highest in N.C.

The overall North Carolina crime rate in 2009 was the lowest in 25 years, Attorney General Roy Cooper's office announced Wednesday. Durham County's crime rate was the 6th highest of the 92 North Carolina counties reported.

Reported crimes fell 8.8 percent  since last year across the state as violent crime fell 12.5 percent -- the largest decline in a single year since the state started recording crime rates in 1973.

Durham County's crime rate dropped almost 5.4 percent to 5,965 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2009. Ahead of Durham County were Cumberland County, where Fayetteville is located, Vance, Dare and Richmond Counties.

The violent crime rate in the county fell 14.7 percent and the property crime rate dropped more than 4 percent from a year ago.

The crime rate in the City of Durham fell 3 percent to 13,354. This figure includes murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts, but does not account for incidents of arson.

“There are also crimes that these numbers don’t reflect, such as some computer crimes and crimes connected with prescription drug abuse,” Cooper said in a statement Wednesday. “Law enforcement is constantly confronted with new crime trends and that’s why we must make sure that officers have access to the best in crime fighting technology, like DNA.”

Still, Durham's high crime rate among other areas in North Carolina means that Durham Mayor Bill Bell needs "to have some conversations with the police chief," Bell told The (Durham) Herald Sun Wednesday.

Figures for the City of Durham:

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