VIRGINIA BEACH, Va — The Virginia Beach Police Department says a combination of police work, cameras and assistance from the public has helped bring down crime numbers in Virginia's largest city.
Rodney Scott recently moved to Virginia Beach from Newport News. He told News 3 that safety needs to come with a new zip code.
"When you're moving somewhere new where you don't have any connections you want to be around a safe environment," said Scott.
Watch: Youth violence showing up online; Virginia Beach police, community talk solutions
According to the Virginia Beach Police Department, several efforts have been made this year to clean up crime and prevent future felonies from occurring in the city.
Chief Paul Neudigate thinks it's been a successful year so far. Since last year the number of people shot is down by 44 percent.
"The city has also seen a 53 percent reduction in homicides," explained Neudigate.
Watch: VBPD invites residents to register security cameras through Keep Virginia Beach Safe program
"This time last year we saw a huge influx of domestic-related homicides which are very difficult to address because once we took a deeper look into them, we discovered that those individuals were not previously on our radar," said Neudigate.
Technology has also helped the police as well, including the use of Flock Cameras, or license plate readers.
"They're solving crimes they're helping us arrest the right people," said Chief Neudigate. "When we are arresting those that are willing to engage in a robbery or brandish a firearm, we can identify and arrest them now so they're not pulling the trigger later on."
Watch: Virginia Beach honors fallen law enforcement officers during National Police Week
The police department also has technology that can recognize shell casings from shootings.
"We have our NIBIN in-house now that links fired cartridge casings left at scenes of other crimes, so if you shoot a gun and leave shell casing and they do if you use that same gun for other crimes, we can put you at the scene of those crimes," explained Neudigate.
Watch: Virginia Beach police dedicate new headquarters at renovated Building 2
Community has also been an important component in bringing down crime, according to VBPD.
"The citizens still trust the police and they will step up and provide information related to these crimes because they know we will do our due diligence to hold someone accountable and make sure that they are not back out on the streets," said Neudigate.
Despite the decrease in crime, Scott says he's going to stay street-smart
"I don't trust no city to leave my door unlocked it's no exception even though it is a safe environment," said Scott.
