Evansville Police Saw Reduction In Shootings And Homicides In 2017,

SUMMARY

Following an unusually high amount of shootings and homicides in 2017, Evansville Police saw a reduction in both categories in 2018. The lower number of incidents comes after a concentrated effort by the Evansville Police Department, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office, and our Federal Law Enforcement partners. The collaborative effort focused their crime reduction effort on known violent criminals and high crime areas. 

The increased focus also led to the creation of the Evansville Police Department’s Violent Incident Prevention Enforcement and Response Unit. Also known as the VIPER Unit. The VIPER Unit assisted multiple units within the EPD to identify and locate individuals involved in violent crime. The VIPER Unit was involved in 551 Felony arrests and 186 Misdemeanor arrests. They also removed 49 crime guns from our community. 

The following information includes a year to year comparison for shootings and criminal homicides. Self-defense, Unintentional, and Police Action Shootings are not included in the information.

Shooting Victims-

2017   64

2018   39      Down 39%

Criminal Homicides-

2017    19

2018    11     Down 42%

Shots Fired Calls-

2017     820

2018    695   Down 15%

Crime Guns Seized-

2017     480

2018     576   Up 20%

Shooting Victim Demographics-

White Male

2017   15 

2018   4     73% reduction

Black Male

2017    34

2018    30    11% reduction

White Female

2017   8

2018   4    50% reduction

Black Female

2017   7

2018   1   85% reduction 

Hispanic Male

2017    0

2018     1     100% increase

Shooting Suspect Demographics- ***When a suspect description is given to investigators***

White Male

2017   1 of 64 cases    1.5%

2018   5 of 39 cases    13%

Black Male

2017   54 of 64 cases   83%

2018   21 of 39            53%

White Female

2017    1of 64 cases      1.5%

2018    4 of 39 cases     10%

Black Female

2017     0 of 64 cases     0%

2018     1 of 39 cases     2.5%

                ***  2017 had 8 unknown suspect descriptions  ***

Criminal Homicide Victim Demographics

White Male

2017     7

2018     5      28% reduction

Black Male

2017    6 

2018    3   50%    reduction 

White Female

2017     3

2018     2     33%   reduction

Black Female

2017     1

2018     0    100%   reduction

Hispanic Male

2017   0

2018    1      100% increase