Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston has experienced a dramatic increase in both property and violent crimes over the past 5 years. The Charleston Police Department (CPD) has continued to develop crime reduction efforts, focusing on evidence-based approaches. CPD has also started to shift towards Community Problem-Oriented Policing (CPOP), that targets the perpetrators and locations within the city that are driving the increased crime rate. CPD plans to institute a full implementation of CPOP in Charleston to address crime hot spots without relying on extensive enforcement actions. This approach will consist of CPD presence to gather intelligence and act as deterrents, Crime Intelligence Unit and leadership acting to develop comprehensive problem profiles, and instituting a tailored policing response plan to be implemented at each hot spot. This approach will be evaluated using assessments of monthly crime levels to assess trends and gauge response strategies, and research partners will conduct a formal statistical analysis of crime and enforcement at the project’s end.

Data Highlights:

• Violent crime incident average in 2021 and 2022 was 39% higher than the same figure in 2018
• Aggravated assault incidents increased from 208 in 2018 to 316 in 2022
• Incidents of theft from automobiles increased from 617 in 2018 to 731 in 2022
• Auto theft incidents increased from 324 in 2018 to 494 in 2022