Charlottesville Police report gun-related incidents were down 51 percent in 2025

Virginia law requires law enforcement agencies in the Commonwealth to provide an annual report into criminal activity and police behavior. Charlottesville’s most recent document covers 2024, but on Monday the police department put out a one-page snapshot of data.

“Overall crime declined by 10.9 percent when including larcenies and 17.8 percent when excluding larcenies, underscoring sustained reductions across multiple crime categories,” reads an information release. “These outcomes reflect a continued focus on prevention, strategic enforcement, and collaborative community partnerships.”

Gun-related incidents were down 51 percent. Police Chief Michael Kochis said reducing gun violence is a high priority.

“This progress is the result of our dedicated staff, strong partnerships with our community, and data-driven strategies that focus on both accountability and prevention,” Kochis is quoted in the release.

There were 48,959 calls for service in 2025 and 0.22 percent involved use of force by an officer. Details will be in the annual report.

The snapshot also gives a sense of how often a relatively new mental health response service has been used. The ANCHOR Team responded to 381 calls serving 286 unique individuals with over half of the calls keyed in as “mental health.”

The number of overdoses was down 58 percent from 2024.

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