The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has released its annual crime report, saying total crimes, violent crimes and property index crimes for 2022 were all below the prior year.
Total index crimes were down over 9 percent year-to-year and down over 15 percent from the 10-year average. Violent index crimes as a whole were down 4 percent from 2021, although up 9 percent from the 10-year average. Murders declined almost 6 percent from 2021, but they were over 10 percent above the 10-year average and up over 28 percent from the pre-COVID 10-year average. Rapes were down 2 percent from 2021 and less than half a percent from the 10-year average, but up slightly from the pre-COVID 10-year average.
When it comes to property crimes, burglaries were 15 percent below 2021 numbers, almost 35 percent below the 10-year average and over 45 percent than the pre-COVID 10-year average. Thefts, including motor vehicle thefts, and arson were all below the prior year, the 10-year average and the pre-COVID 10-year average.
Emporia Police and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office reported no murders, 10 total rapes, over 30 aggravated assaults or batteries and three robberies for eight months last year, with a violent crime offense rate of 1.5 per 1,000 people. There were over 400 property crime offenses, including 32 motor vehicle thefts and 10 arson incidents, with a crime rate of 12.9 per 1,000 people.
