News Release
Robbery Initiative Ends; Shows Successes, Challenges
Jan. 28, 2010
The Richmond Police Department is proud to showcase the results of its first time robbery initiative that targeted certain portions of the city troubled with robberies.
The Initiative resulted in robberies in those areas being cut by more than half. In Sector 313, which includes the Fan area, robberies dropped from 13 to 5. In Sector 412, which includes the Carver, Ginter Park and Barton Heights, robberies decreased from 14 to 3. In Sector 413, which includes Jackson Ward, City Center and VCU, robberies were reduced from 14 to 6. All of this during a three-month period from September to November.
“This initiative was part learning experience, part targeted enforcement in areas where we were seeing an increase in individual and commercial robberies,” Major John Keohane said. “I’m very proud of the way our investigators and officers were able to not only reduce the number of robberies, but also to clear more than 44 percent of the robberies assigned to them and remove several violent offenders from the street.”
One person linked to 19 of the commercial city robberies was Andre R. Simpson, 38, who died last month in a car accident while fleeing police. Lawrence E. Murchison, 32, also died in the same crash, and was also linked to at least one city robbery. Their mugshots are attached to this advisory.
The Initiative included investigators from Richmond Police as well as the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the United States Attorneys’ Office; the Virginia Attorney General’s Office; and the Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s’ Office.
More details on the Robbery Initiative and 2009 robbery statistics are available in the attached documents.
