From Staff Reports

ASHEVILE, N.C. —The final data has been colllected for 2025 and it confirms a trend reported by the Asheville Police Department in November (then with 10 months of data collected) that there was a 24 percent drop in citywide violent crime in 2025, compared to 2024.

What’s more, the complete 2025 data gives Asheville the distinction of achieving its lowest homicide count since 2017, Interim Police Chief Jackie Stepp recently announced,

The 10-month data report was provided by then-APD Chief (and Asheville native) Mike Lamb on Nov 2 during his final Asheville City Council subcommittee meeting before his retirement. 

Lamb’s report — based on 10 months of crime data —  projected a 28 percent decrease in violent crime for 2025 as reported in the Dec, 16 edition of the Daily Planet.

As for the final tally showing a 24 percent decrease in citywide violent crime compared to 2024, Stepp, a Hendersonville native, termed it as “no small feat” during the city’s Jan. 29 Public Safety Committee meeting,

“Stepp said there’s no one factor that contributed to the drop,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported on Feb. 2. “It represents a culmination of restaffing, the work of on-the-ground officers, investigators, the strategic use of technology and support from city staff and the community, according to Stepp.”

Stepp told the Public Safety Committee that “this is a slide that not only the police department should be proud of, but really the community as a whole, because public safety takes the work of all of us.”

The ACT added, “Citywide violent crime dropped from 596 reported incidents in 2024 to 453 in 2025, according to APD data. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program considers four offenses as violent: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.”

Meanwhile, Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) noted that, while violent crime did decline in Asheville last year, property crime rose 10 percent in 2025 from the previous year, with 4,038 reported incidents, an increase of 356 cases. That category includes theft, burglary, vehicle break-ins and shoplifting.

“Stepp said the (property crime) increase is tied in part to changes in staffing and reporting, not necessarily more criminal activity,” News 13 reported.

The TV station quoted Stepp telling the Public Safety Committee the following:

“Previously, we had some calls for service that we weren’t able to respond to, People got in a habit of not calling the police for things like shoplifting. As we begin to re-staff, we’re encouraging people to report those crimes again, and we’re responding again.”

Further, News 13 noted, “She (Stepp) said the rise is largely driven by shoplifting reports at large retail locations across the city, not concentrated in one neighborhood.”

As for the violent crime decline, the ACT noted that “there’s also been a notable drop in homicides. Year totals in homicides include 12 in 2022, nine in 2023 and 13 in 2024. The shooting death of 19-year-old Antonio Tremaine Carson Jr. on Dec. 7 marked the city’s sixth homicide in 2025. That’s the lowest homicide rate since 2017, Stepp said.

“According to APD’s crime analyst team, South Slope — a neighborhood district south of downtown’s core — had the most notable decrease in total violent crime at 50 percent. This area had 27 violent crime incidents in 2025 compared to 54 in 2024.

“Violent crime increased downtown between Patton Avenue and Interstate 240. This area had a 33 percent increase in violent crimes, from 24 in 2024 to 32 in 2025, according to data shared by APD.

“To get these counts, the crime analyst broke the city into hexagons and calculated percent changes between 2024 and 2025 violent crime counts, according to spokesperson Rick Rice,” the ACT reported.