Traffic Safety Incidents A Top Concern For Manassas Police, Chief Shares
MANASSAS, VA — Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen addressed the state of crime in the city and traffic safety concerns in a mid-year update to Manassas City Council. The update came in the wake of a fatal crash over the weekend.In Monday night's presentation, the police chief said Manassas officials are hearing concerns from residents about crime going up. But Keen says some of those perceptions may involve the Manassas area of Prince William County, not the City of Manassas. Keen asserted that the City of Manassas is a safe community and has a police department responsive to the types of enforcement residents want to see."Each of us sometimes have to push back and fight and correct information that may be out there on social media, or things that you and I hear about...crime is going up," said Keen." It's through the roof in the city and/or events that happen in Prince William County but have a Manassas address that people attribute back to the City of Manassas, and each one of us work every day to get that corrected information out."Part I crimes, which are considered more serious crimes, had a mix of increases, decreased and no changes so far in 2025. There were no murders or manslaughters reported in the first halves of 2024 or 2025 within city limits. Aggravated assaults decreased from 18 to five, larcenies declined from 362 to 270, and forcible rapes went from six to zero. Meanwhile, robberies increased from eight to 10, burglaries increased from 19 to 28, and vehicle thefts increased from 51 to 62. The combined Part I crimes resulted in a slight decline in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024. Keen said the data reflected small numbers, which could result in large percentage changes."This, to me, in the police department is good news. But I also want to point out we're only half a year, lots of things can change," said Keen. "As an example, years past, shortly after giving a presentation, we could have a night of a grand larceny of catalytic converters, where they go through and maybe hit 20 cars. That's a big number in one night, grand larceny, that can change numbers very rapidly."Vice Mayor Mark Wolfe agreed that the city is safe, noting the decline in Part I crimes."We do have a safe community, want to make it safer. That's why we spend all the money and we have an accredited and fully funded police department," said Wolfe.The police chief noted that vehicle thefts are trending up around the region. To help prevent car thefts, Keen encourages residents to lock their cars, don't leave keys in the cars and follow the 9 o'clock routine of locking cars and homes and keeping outside lights on. "Those are all things, little things that we can do in partnership with our community to do crime prevention that helps us with some of these numbers," said Keen. The police department also released "quality of life" crime data, which includes domestic incidents, overdoses, and mental health calls. Violent domestic reports increased from 123 to 138, while non-violent domestic calls declined from 175 to 146. Domestic violence arrests jumped from 43 to 76.On overdoses, non-fatal incidents increased from nine to 15, while fatal overdoses stayed the same at two each in the first halves of 2024 and 2025.Mental health reports fell from 83 to 29, although reports of mental subjects spiked from 13 to 60. Mental detention orders, which involve paperwork from a court to have a person evaluated at a hospital, declined from 55 to 47. Keen said mental health subject data reflects cases with no commitment order or where a person isn't determined to have a mental health disorder. "Sergeant [Shauna] Mueller specifically reads every mental health report, makes that connection to both social services and [Community Services Board] so that if we have an individual that is in need, whether that's from addiction or mental health, or in some cases both of those, she helps them get the services they need," said Keen. "So we can get them to a better spot in their life, which, at the end of the day, helps everyone in the City of Manassas."According to the police chief's presentation, calls for police service are overall down in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024. All monthly numbers from January to June decreased, with the exception of January's calls for service increasing from 5,969 to 6,584.Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger said police departments around the U.S. are having challenges with crime but praised Manassas Police for its impact on safety."Our numbers, I think, don't look horrible," said Davis-Younger. "Every place is having trouble across the country, so I just appreciate the efforts of all the staff and everyone who works toward making sure that we are definitely safe and people want to be here. So we have First Friday coming, so it always comes with its wonderful challenges, but we know you are all up for it."Traffic Safety Concerns While crime data was a mixed bag in the city, crashes and traffic enforcement are trending up. Keen said traffic safety is the "number one thing I hear about." The police department added one new traffic enforcement position in the latest city budget approved by Manassas City Council, with funding from red light camera violation revenue. According to data from the first half of 2025, property damage-only crashes increased from 251 to 448. Crashes with injuries also increased from 99 to 112. Keen noted the latest fatal crash killed a Prince William County resident who was driving out of the city on Saturday. That crash happened in the area of Ashton Avenue between Burnside Road and Godwin Drive.Meanwhile, traffic stops are up from 2,863 to 3,293, and traffic enforcement is up from 1,499 to 1,703."As you can clearly see, we heard our community. We've put a little bit of effort in doing more traffic enforcement," said Keen. "That makes those calls for service to go down slightly. But as you can see, it trends the traffic enforcement up, not only the incident — traffic stops sometimes can lead to warnings — but also our traffic tickets are up."Citations are up from 3,017 in 2024 to 3,269 in 2025. These citations have included failure to obey stop sign, expired registration, failure to obey highway sign, operating a vehicle while holding a phone, driving without a license, speeding 15 to 19 over, speeding 15 to 19 over in a 25 mph zone, speeding 20 or more over, failure to have vehicle inspected, and improper exhaust system."I just want to point out they're up, but it is also what our community has asked for," said Keen. "And to be honest with you, we couldn't have enough officers and enough time to do traffic enforcement at the rate that our community has asked for."Councilmember Sonia Vasquez Luna shared concerns about the speeding 20 or more over the speed limit becoming a more common citation. "I will tell you we are concerned," said Keen. And you hear this in the news for the region this weekend are reports writing tickets for 73 [mph] in a 35 mile an hour zone," said Keen. So we're getting these excessive speeds, and if we're not there doing the traffic enforcement, those are the ones you're getting the phone calls about."Along with police enforcement, the city uses automated red light cameras and speed cameras as allowed by state law. The latest red light camera at Liberia Avenue and Richmond Avenue started enforcement on June 1 after a warning period. Keen estimated a 23,000 to 24,000 range of red light camera tickets issued last year."We actually do a full analysis before those photo red light cameras are approved, accident rates, distance speeds, traffic counts, all that goes into the analysis before we determine and approve a photo red light enforcement," said Keen.Virginia law only allows localities to use speed camera enforcement in active school zones and work zones. Keen said the city does not have work zone speed cameras but utilizes them in school zones. The speed cameras only record violations when the school zone lights are flashing."We have a total of four that we move around. There stationed at either Dean [Elementary], Round [Elementary] or Metz [Middle School]," said Keen. "As a reminder to the public here and watching, school is getting ready to start. Those photo speed enforcement will be active at the beginning of the school [on Aug. 12]."Councilmember Ralph Smith highlighted the concern of drivers misunderstanding traffic laws about school buses."There seems to be a lot of confusion or simple misunderstanding about the rules regarding stopped school buses even though the light's flashing and the arm is down," said Smith.The police chief said Manassas Police will resume public reminders on speed zones and school buses returning, as well as the laws about when to stop for a school bus.Keen noted one state law change may have an impact on crash data going forward. As of July 1, the minimum damage or injury to be classified as a reportable crash doubled from $1,500 to $3,000."We all know, in today's atmosphere, a fender bender is going to be $3,000," said Keen. "But it could change these final numbers at the end of the year of what comes back as reportable accidents for the second half of the year, because that change is taking place mid-year."The article Traffic Safety Incidents A Top Concern For Manassas Police, Chief Shares appeared first on Manassas, VA Patch.
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