Arlington saw two more murders in 2024 than in 2023 but a 1% reduction in crimes against persons, according to new data submitted to a national database.
Police submitted the data to NIBRS, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, a database that allows law enforcement to voluntarily share crime statistics.
The system was launched in 1989. Arlington has submitted data every year since 2019.
While there were two more murders and non-negligent homicides in Arlington in 2024 than the year before, Sgt. Alex Rosado said the overall 1% reduction in crimes against persons is something the department is happy about.
“Some years it shows that crime is going down and some years it does show that it’s going up,” Rosado said. “Any time it can go down, we’re very proud of that.”
Rosado, the head of the Arlington police public information office, said the city has seen an 11% decrease in crime in the city from 2022 to the end of 2024. Between 2022 and 2023, violent crime alone saw an 11% decline.
What 2024 crime data shows
The NIBRS data is split into three categories: crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes against society.
Crimes against persons include assaults, murders, rape and and human trafficking.
While the city faced two more murders in 2024 than 2023, Arlington saw reductions in most sexual crimes in that same period.
According to reports from 2023 and 2024, there were 37 fewer reported rapes. Arlington still saw 216 reported rapes in 2024. Rosado said no number of rapes is acceptable to Arlington police but did note that a majority of the rapes were not stranger rapes, where rapists are targeting women they don’t know. In most cases, rape survivors knew their attackers.
Investigators also saw 14 fewer reported aggravated assaults in 2024.
In crimes against property, police reported 1,069 break-ins and burglaries last year, a decrease of about 17.5% from the year prior, according to the reports. There were also fewer vehicle burglaries.
Rosado said data from 2023 allowed police to strategically install and monitor cameras and station officers in areas of the city seeing the highest number of vehicle burglaries and thefts. That allowed law enforcement to not only prevent those crimes but also respond quicker when they happened.
He credited those efforts with Arlington facing 241 fewer vehicle burglaries in 2024 than in 2023.
Overall, Rosado said crime in the city decreased by about 5% over those two years and property crimes dropped by 6%.
Police also saw fewer drug, prostitution, gambling and weapon-related crimes in 2024, according to the reports.
Adapting to new intelligence
Rosado told KERA News Arlington police take whatever steps they can to reduce crimes.
He said one reason the city has witnessed the decline in crime is because Arlington police submit data to NIBRS. It gives police more opportunities to examine the data, analyze trends and adapt to prevent crime in the future.
The introduction of NET, the NIBIN Engagement Team, was one result of that data analysis.
Rosado said NET, created in the department through a partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, utilizes state and national databases to connect firearms to crimes.
The team can analyze firearms, spent casings and slugs to connect guns to other crimes and sometimes identify the last known owner, in some cases even uncovering multiple crimes in which a firearm was used. That information comes from NIBIN, the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, a federal database.
Tim Ciesco, a department spokesperson in the public information office, said NET has allowed investigators to track guns through their connection to crimes, not only locally but throughout Texas and even across state lines. He and Rosado said connecting multiple crimes through the firearm used can help officers identify a suspect and prevent future shootings.
FLOCK Safety, a system of cameras that read license plates to help police locate stolen vehicles or those suspected of being used in a crime, has also been used with intelligence from the NIBRS report. The system also allows surveillance cameras from homes and businesses to be linked to the police system so officers in the real time crime center can pull up those camera feeds if a crime is reported there.
The data was analyzed to find locations where crimes are more frequently reported, allowing police to focus FLOCK Safety cameras in those areas, Rosado said.
The data from 2024 is still being analyzed, but Rosado said the department is already looking at ways to improve and reduce crime further.
He said one step the department is taking is the introduction of drones through a new Uncrewed Aircraft Systems as First Responders (UASFR) program. The initiative will allow police to send drones to the locations of 911 calls, giving officers real-time information on what’s happening as they respond.
In some cases, Rosado said the UASFR drones will even be able to identify calls that don’t require an officer to respond, saving time and allowing police on the streets to focus on other calls.
Earning the community’s trust has also been an important effort for police. Rosado said the department works to demonstrate that officers in Arlington want to help people and that they can rely on police when a crime has been committed.
Investigators have received more tips and information because of that, he said. It can help in investigating crimes after they’ve happened, but it can also make witnesses feel more comfortable reporting an ongoing situation, allowing officers in some cases to arrive quickly enough to prevent the crime or prevent it from escalating.
Police intend to release more information in April, when Arlington Police Chief Al Jones is slated to provide to the city council with a report based on the crime data submitted to NIBRS. The report is expected to include deeper insights into crime trends and provide suggestions on how to adapt the department and its tactics to address the findings.
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