In his annual State of the Department address, Arlington Police Chief Jonathan Ventura shared some incredible strides the department made in 2018 in reducing crime in Arlington. Specifically he noted that:
- Burglaries decreased 13%
- Robberies decreased 38%
- Malicious mischief decreased 16%
- Theft decreased 15%
- Shoplifting decreased 11%
- Vehicle Theft decreased 40%
- DUIs decreased 3%
Chief Ventura also shared that proactive efforts by Arlington officers increased in 2018, with an increase of 40% in traffic stops and a 24% increase in self-initiated officer activity to keep Arlington safer.
The department processed 12% more pistol transfers over 2017, over 3,400 individual pieces of evidence and over 900 public records requests which took over 570 hours of staff time to process and respond.
Of concern, Chief Ventura noted that domestic violence cases were up 4% in 2018. Chief Ventura announced the launch of a new program in 2019 to address this issue. On January 2, the City hired Bridge Coordination Services to serve as the domestic violence coordinator, working as a liaison between victims of domestic violence, prosecution services and the Arlington Police Department.