Crime has continued to decrease in Fayetteville, following a steady decline in incidents reported over the past three years, according to police.
But the number of homicides in January through June this year more than doubled compared to the same time last year, from 13 to 27, according to a report from the Fayetteville Police Department.
Fayetteville Police Chief Roberto Bryan presented crime data to the Fayetteville City Council on Monday. Bryan said detectives have solved 92% of the homicides that occurred during the first half of the year, a significantly higher clearance rate than the national average of 58%. He emphasized that the homicides were not random acts of violence.
“These are also individuals that know each other and they’ve had conflict within their housing or their neighborhood,” Bryan said. “So these aren’t what we would call just a random situation where any citizen is just being victimized by an individual.”
Violent crime overall decreased by about 17%, with 1,548 incidents from January through June compared to 1,858 the same time last year. In addition:
- Domestic violence aggravated assaults decreased by about 16%, from 1,154 to 971
- Aggravated assaults decreased by about 13%, from 373 to 324
- Reported rapes remained the same, at 27 incidents
- All other violent crimes against individuals decreased by about 19%, from 1,450 to 1,172
Crime was down 13% overall compared to the same time last year, with 1,205 fewer incidents. In addition:
- Arrests were up by 0.56%, with 19 more recorded in the first half of this year
- Property crimes were down by about 18%, from 5,248 to 4,316
- Crimes against persons were down by about 17%, from 1,858 to 1,547
- Traffic stops increased by 9%. Bryan said the spike reflects a focused effort to hold “careless and reckless drivers” accountable.
Juvenile crime
Bryan also gave an update on juvenile crime, an ongoing issue that the city council has tried to address with the youth curfew ordinance that went into effect in July. Though a side-by-side comparison was not included in the report, CityView compared the 2024 mid-year juvenile crime numbers to the 2025 numbers, and found juvenile crime increased in almost every category:
- Assaults increased from 102 to 156
- Motor vehicle theft increased from 47 to 62
- Robbery increased from 11 to 22
- Resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer increased from 6 to 12
- Breaking and entering increased from 80 to 85
- Shoplifting increased from 35 to 40
- Weapons charges increased from 16 to 20
The exceptions include vandalism, which saw a marked decrease from 64 to 37 instances, and drug charges, which remained the same at 23. Bryan described break-ins and car thefts as the most pressing juvenile crime issues his department is working to address.
“Those are the areas that have been plaguing us in the city,” Bryan said. “But our district commanders have put plans in place in order to address some of these issues, and we are going to be trending downward, as you’ll see in the future.”
Bryan said the juvenile crime numbers do not include any data from the curfew, as it was not in effect during the reporting period.
The police department provides 14 school resource officers to Cumberland County Schools. SROs are assigned to the nine high schools in Fayetteville, with roaming officers covering the middle and elementary schools. Bryan said the department plans to add four more SROs by January, which will allow for full coverage of all middle schools in Fayetteville.
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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