Overall crime is up in Lyon County. That’s the assessment from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s annual crime report.
The document released Thursday has 1,035 violent and property crimes combined across Lyon County last year, with a rate of 31.2 crimes per 1,000 people. Those stats are all higher than the 2017 numbers announced last year, which had 847 total crime reports and a crime rate of 25.3 offenses per 1,000 people. The overall crime rate is also close to the state rate of 31.4 crimes per 1,000.
For violent crimes, the rate of 1.4 crimes per 1,000 was below the state rate of 4.2. No murders were reported, but there were 20 rapes — 18 in Emporia — and 24 aggravated assault or battery cases, with 13 in Lyon County.
Thefts were the busiest category for property crimes in Lyon County with 412 total, 371 of those in Emporia.
Statewide, the KBI says overall crime reports dipped from 93,000 to 92,000 from 2017 to 2018. Violent index crimes are almost 17 percent above the 10-year average, including a 5.3-percent increase from 2017 to 2018. Murder numbers last year dropped 17 percent from 2017 but are still 15 percent above the 10-year average. Rapes are up 11 percent over 2017 and are now 20 percent above the 10-year average. Robberies are down 8.5 percent from 2017 to 2018.
Property crimes overall are 3.5 percent below the 10-year state average, with a 2-percent decline from 2017 to 2018. Vehicle thefts are over 20 percent above the 10-year average and saw a 1.5-percent increase from 2017 to 2018. Thefts had a 1.4-percent yearly decrease and are now 1.4 percent below the 10-year average. Burglaries were at their lowest mark in over 15 years after a 7-percent drop from 2017 to 2018.
Click here for a link to the KBI Crime Report. The annual data shows overall state numbers and statistics by county, including cities across the KVOE listening area.
