York County Sheriff—s Office honored as certified crime-prevention community; sheriff presents two-year crime trends and new enforcement programs

The York County Sheriff—s Office received a Certified Crime Prevention Community certificate and presented two-year crime and enforcement metrics during the April 15 meeting of the York County Board of Supervisors.

Tina Sumter of the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services presented the certificate and summarized the program, saying the certification requires meeting a set of community-safety elements developed with the state commission in 1998. "To obtain certification, the York County Sheriff's Office submitted an application and had to meet 19 community safety elements," Sumter said.

Sheriff Montgomery and his staff reviewed results from 2023 and 2024 and described several operational changes that they say contributed to falling crime rates. The sheriff reported a 64% drop in robberies, a 46.5% decline in larcenies from motor vehicles and overall Group A offenses down about 7% across the two-year span. He also said total arrests rose 33%, DUI arrests rose 19.5% and traffic summonses increased 108.5% during the same period.

Sheriff Montgomery credited a mix of targeted enforcement and data-driven deployment. The office—s traffic unit, which the sheriff said took over accident investigations from the Virginia State Police because of manpower issues, handled 1,839 accidents in 2023'024 and issued 7,563 traffic summonses over that period. "If you're out here looking for a community to commit a crime, my advice to you is not in your county," he told the board.

The sheriff described the agency—s investments in specialty units: a canine program (five dogs, funded by drug asset forfeiture money), an accident reconstruction team and an administration-led drone ("rover") team that now operates jointly with the county fire department. Major Tommy West, recognized earlier in the meeting for 30 years of service, said, "I've loved every minute of working for York County." Lieutenant Jeff Charvel and Deputy Kevin Taylor were singled out by the sheriff for leading the crime-prevention certification application.

The office noted specific program outcomes: K-9 teams had 421 deployments since 2023, producing 190 arrests and an 80% success metric the sheriff cited; Narcan deployments numbered 34 across 2023'024; and the sheriff said school-zone radar enforcement had reduced speeding in targeted school zones by about 94% since the program began.

Sheriff Montgomery also listed grants received in the period (about $375,000 total, he said, including $200,000 in ARPA funds) and said the funds paid for police vehicles and equipment rather than county tax dollars. He invited supervisors and residents to a law-enforcement forum at the sheriff—s office scheduled for the following week to discuss the work in more detail.

Board members and residents responded with public praise for the certification and the agency—s community programs. Several supervisors thanked Major West and the sheriff—s staff for the work behind the reported reductions in crime.

Ending: The sheriff framed the certification as a community achievement and said the office will continue targeted enforcement and community engagement programs; the board did not take formal action on the presentation.