photo by: Kansas Bureau of Investigation

Updated at 2:40 p.m. Monday, July 10

Violent crime and property crime in Kansas both decreased in 2022, according to the Kansas Crime Index Report released by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The report indicates that violent crime in the state decreased by 4.3% from 2021, showing declines in the categories of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and battery. A total of 12,849 violent crimes in those categories were reported in Kansas last year, compared with 13,422 in 2021.

The 2022 numbers include 163 murders, 1,160 rapes, 1,042 robberies, and 10,484 aggravated assaults and batteries.

Violent crime in Kansas had been steadily rising each year since 2014, “but seems to have started to level off as violent crime offenses declined in 2021 and 2022,” the report noted. Despite this decline, the number of violent crimes in 2022 remained 9.2% above the 10-year average, and have not yet returned to pre-pandemic crime rates, the report said.

Overall property crimes declined by 10% in 2022, the report said, noting that in Kansas, property offenses have steadily declined since 2017. Such offenses, however, are assumed to be underreported to law enforcement, the report said.

Property crimes listed in the report include burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. Property crimes totaled 61,125 in 2022, compared with 67,928 in 2021.

The state report also breaks down the statistics by county and city law enforcement agencies. Douglas County in 2022 totaled 485 violent crimes (down from 525 in 2021), with 445 of those handled by the Lawrence Police Department. Those numbers break down further to 10 murders in the county, with seven in Lawrence; 61 rapes, with 57 in Lawrence; 35 robberies, with 34 in Lawrence; and 379 aggravated assaults and batteries, with 347 in Lawrence.

For property crimes, the local numbers were 2,293 total for the county (down from 2,600 in 2021), with 2,154 in Lawrence. By category there were 250 burglaries for the county, with 234 in Lawrence; 1,849 thefts for the county, with 1,745 in Lawrence; and 194 motor vehicle thefts for the county, with 175 in Lawrence.

The report also noted seven arsons in Douglas County, all in Lawrence.

Data from the Kansas Crime Index report is derived from standard offense and arrest reports submitted to the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System by local law enforcement agencies across Kansas. It is dependent on victims reporting crimes. The report is compiled to provide a historical assessment and snapshot of crime trends.