Starkey School · Photo: Molly Cardenas · CC BY-SA 3.0Who polices Cave Spring, and what they report
Cave Spring has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Roanoke County. The Roanoke County Police Department reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Cave Spring alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Cave Spring
Policed by the county
Cave Spring is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Roanoke County Police Department’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Roanoke County Police Department covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Cave Spring. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Virginia towns with their own police figures are Roanoke (D, 5 mi), Vinton (C, 7 mi), Rocky Mount (D, 17 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Cave Spring. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Roanoke County Police Department reports
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Roanoke County without police of their own, which include Cave Spring.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
Also reports crimes in Roanoke County to the FBI.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Roanoke County Police Department
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
The nearest Virginia towns with a Safety Grade
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roanoke | D | 5 mi | 5.8 | 38.2 |
| Vinton | C | 7 mi | 2.0 | 19.1 |
| Rocky Mount | D | 17 mi | 1.1 | 42.0 |
| Christiansburg | C | 23 mi | 1.8 | 23.1 |
| Blacksburg | A− | 23 mi | 0.8 | 6.5 |
| Bedford | C+ | 28 mi | 2.1 | 16.7 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Cave Spring. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Cave Spring.
Five people died in crashes on Cave Spring’s roads in 2019–2023
Cave Spring had 5 fatal crashes in five years, in which five people died.
That is about what is typical for Virginia towns of 25,000–100,000 people: at their median rate (3.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Cave Spring’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Cave Spring’s own rate (3.9) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Cave Spring and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Salem reported to the FBI for 2023 and 2025 but not 2024.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Cave Spring
Is Cave Spring, VA safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Cave Spring. Cave Spring has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Roanoke County. The Roanoke County Police Department reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Cave Spring alone, and no Safety Grade. The nearest Virginia towns with a grade are Roanoke (D, 5 mi), Vinton (C, 7 mi), Rocky Mount (D, 17 mi).
Who polices Cave Spring?
The Roanoke County Police Department. Cave Spring is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Roanoke County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Cave Spring.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.