Henrico saw a 'historic' crime dip in 2025. Can the county maintain that success in 2026?
Henrico had a record year in 2025 when it came to reducing homicides, with only three cases the entire year – the fewest since 1965.
Along with an 86% drop in homicides, the county also witnessed a 58% drop in rapes compared to 2024. Henrico Police maintained a strong presence in corridors with historically higher gun violence rates – Laburnum Avenue, St. Luke’s Apartments, Newbridge Village, and Nine Mile Road – and will continue to do so in 2026, according to Henrico Police Chief Eric English.
But despite a historic decline in homicides, overall violent crime only declined by 2% in 2025. The county saw an 18% uptick in robberies, though English said that many robberies in the first part of 2025 were credited to just two perpetrators who were eventually caught. (While one was allegedly robbing convenience stores, another allegedly used a ruse on Facebook marketplace to rob unwitting sellers upon meeting.)
“Last year, we got hit very hard with robberies and got off to a very rough start at the beginning of the year,” English said. “But we’ve made some really great inroads this year in the first quarter with reducing robberies.”
The county also saw a 13% decline in nonviolent crime, with drops in arson (37%), auto thefts (30%), burglaries (17%), and larcenies (11%). Larcenies remain a key focus for the HPD, according to English – particularly in the Three Chopt District, where many large businesses are concentrated. The division has worked to put up more cameras in chain stores that are frequently hit: ABC stores, Walmarts, Wawas, 7-Elevens, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Youth gun violence – committed by individuals in their teens or early twenties – continues to be an issue in Henrico. HPD has worked during the past few years to seize more firearms in the county, particularly through traffic stops, and saw a 12% decrease in firearm offenses during 2025, statistics show.
Despite few homicides last year, English said that HPD still saw shootings – many that could have led to more homicides but fortunately did not, simply because people avoided being hit by gunfire. The department has continued to create strategies to address gun violence hotspots in the county, he said.
“While we didn’t have as many homicides last year, we still had shootings that took place, and a lot of times, we’re very fortunate that folks didn’t get hit by gunfire,” he said. “There’s still too many guns that we’re coming across, and a lot of these guns are in the hands of many young people that shouldn’t be having firearms.”
Homicides up, but all other crime down in early 2026
In the two solved homicide cases last year (one remains unsolved), shootings were unrelated to gang violence, drug trafficking, or domestic violence. Instead, the homicides stemmed from “arguments between individuals that led to guns being pulled out,” English said.
In 2026, Henrico has already seen homicides jump back up to nine, with six reported alone during the months of May and June. Summertime is often when homicides and gun violence begin to rise, said English, with youngsters being out of school.
“It’s hard to mitigate homicide, particularly when people have it in their mind that they just want to do harm to someone,” he said. “Three homicides is a tough number to maintain each and every year with a population of about 340,000 residents in our county. So we can’t rest on our laurels.”
Of the nine homicides so far this year, four have occurred in the Varina District, two in Brookland and two in Three Chopt, and one in Fairfield.
“There’s not one particular area of location that they’re currently concentrated in,” English said. “A lot of times, it’s very hard to focus on one particular area when we have homicides in areas that are not known for gun violence and just kind of pop up out of the blue.”
While homicide cases have risen, all other crime categories saw declines in the first quarter of 2026. Overall crime is down 12% and violent crime has declined by 18% – mainly the result of the county experiencing less robberies than in 2025, English said.
Traffic crashes and overdoses also down in 2025
Henrico saw two other major successes last year: an 18% decrease in reported drug overdoses, and a 9% decrease in reportable traffic crashes.
More widespread availability of Narcan in the county – a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses – has helped Henrico decrease fatal overdoses by 10% in 2025, said English. Nearly 70% of overdoses were caused by opioids, and more than one-third of victims have experienced overdoses before.
The county also witnessed declines in the number of traffic fatalities in 2025 but an increase in the number of traffic-related injuries. HPD has been working with other county agencies to implement a countywide street lighting initiative for major intersections that see more crashes, said English.
HPD’s incoming calls decreased by 4% last year – which English views mostly as a positive sign, showing that people in Henrico are generally feeling more safe.
Henrico’s population growth is also a positive indicator, according to English. While HPD will continue to monitor larcenies and auto thefts as the county sees more people and vehicles move in, more development will provide more positive alternatives to crime for people in Henrico, English said.
“I think when you have more development, there’s more opportunity for people within your locality,” he said. “But we always want to be vigilant and recognize that there may be more businesses that are popping up and more cars traveling.”
More than half of criminal arrests and traffic warnings were given to non-Henrico residents – a reminder that crime is often regional and is not limited by county and city limits, said English.
“Criminals don’t know boundaries. A lot of folks that are being arrested are not actually Henrico residents,” he said. “It’s folks from surrounding areas. A lot of crimes are committed by people who don’t actually live in the locality itself.”
The true impacts of crime
Crime has more widespread impacts than just the victims.
Henrico’s Victim/Witness Assistance Program works with more than 6,000 crime victims each year and helped nearly 7,000 last year, said program director Shelly Shuman-Johnson.
But it is impossible to quantify how many people’s lives are affected by crime, she said, because of the indirect impacts crime has on the victims' relatives, friends, and neighbors.
“When somebody is victimized, it affects everybody around,” she said. “If my mother is robbed and assaulted, she is the victim, but that has an enormous effect on me, and not only just me, but my children, sisters, brothers, my whole family.”
Shuman-Johnson and the assistance program's 15 staffers work with any victims of a felony or violent misdemeanor in Henrico, stemming from human trafficking and murder to robberies and assault and battery.
Even for nonviolent crimes such as home burglaries, Shuman-Johnson said that victims often deal with lasting trauma. Regardless of whether violence or conflict occurs, crimes like home break-ins inherently violate victims and their sense of safety, and can result in the loss of significant personal items that can never be replaced.
“Just because it’s not a physically violent crime does not mean it’s not violent to you,” Shuman-Johnson said. “If you’re not home and somebody breaks in and steals your things, that’s a violation. Home is supposed to be where you’re safe and secure, where you lay your head at night and where all the things that you work so hard for are at. And when somebody comes in, even if you’re not home, that is extremely traumatizing to a person.”
Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.
