Grand Rapids police report year-end declines in auto thefts and homicides; 420 illegal guns seized

Chief Windstrom delivered the Public Safety Committee’s year-end crime update, saying several major metrics trended in the right direction.

"Auto theft holder totals year to date [are] lowest in, at least my time here," Windstrom said, and described the decline as the result of a citywide effort bringing together police and community partners. He said robbery figures showed a small bump from last year but declined overall, aggravated assaults were largely consistent year over year, and homicide totals had fallen: "We've seen homicides in many cities across the country fall, this year for, many reasons. If I had to point to 1 reason in Grand Rapids, I... will say our statistics are slightly better than the nationwide average of declines."

Windstrom told the committee detectives have made substantial progress on recent and older cases. "Out of the hard out of 13 murders that we've had this year, 9 of them have already been cleared by arrest," he said, and noted detectives continue to work cold cases dating back years to provide families with closure.

The chief also flagged substance- and weapon-related harms. He said the city recorded 32 fentanyl overdose deaths this year and described several recent cases in which residents suffered fatal overdoses after taking drugs that were likely tainted with fentanyl. On law enforcement activity, Windstrom said proactive policing led to removal of roughly 420 illegally possessed guns from the street through November: "That's just ... 100 stories of successful and safe proactive policing."

Committee members thanked the chief and asked for more detail on overdose victims. Windstrom offered to bring a demographic and geographic breakdown of the overdose numbers to the next meeting.

The committee did not take formal action on the report; members emphasized continued partnership with groups such as Cure Violence and with other city departments as part of the response.