RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond Police Department revealed 2024 crime numbers on Thursday, touting a drop in some areas but need for improvement in others. On Jan. 16, Chief Rick Edwards led the department's annual crime briefing, highlighting several areas where certain types of crime had decreased. In 2024, there was an overall decrease in violent crime of 5% — in 2023 there were 1,023 incidents, and in 2024 there were 967. There was also an 18% decrease in homicides — 65 incidents in 2023 to 53 incidents in 2024 — and a 19% decrease in rape — 65 incidents in 2023 to 53 incidents in 2024. Edwards also applauded the work done during "Operation Safe Summer" (OSS), which started early on April 19 through Sept. 6. "We seized a lot of guns," Edwards said. "We only had 108 people shot, which is lower than the last two years and 20% down from the highest year." During OSS, overall violent crime decreased from 463 in 2023 to 407 in 2024, a 20% percent decrease from 2022 when it was 469. The total number of people shot went down from 115 in 2023 to 108 in 2024. Two-hundred-and-forty-seven guns were seized, along with 276 felony arrests, 176 misdemeanor arrests and 216 warrants served. Traffic deaths also went down by 32%, from 25 in 2023 to 17 in 2024. However, there were areas that needed improvement. This included a 26% annual increase in commercial burglaries, and a 3% increase in shoplifting incidents are an example. Though motor vehicle thefts decreased by 6%, with 1,469 incidents in 2024 down from 1,571 in 2023, 26% of stolen gun incidents from vehicles came from the "Shockoe Area" -- of the city's 540 incidents, 139 were from that area. “I don't know if it's new folks coming to the city who think that they can leave their guns in their car,” Edwards said. “As someone starts finding guns, it's going to ramp up. So, success leads to more means, leads to more attempts for criminals.” Edwards said there will be more effort to clean up these acts by making sure the community knows they are present, not just when crimes are happening. "Sometimes people look at this uniform and they think of us as robots or, you know, rebel cops,” Edward said. “We’re not just mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters. We're human beings and members of the community like anyone else."