Jan 22, 2021

Police Chief discusses the 2020 crime statistics

Posted Jan 22, 2021 6:59 PM

There was a 16% reduction in both property and violent crimes in Junction City in 2020. Police Chief John Lamb cited the positive direction for the city. "The main driver four our violent crime is aggravated battery. And we saw a 20% decrease in that throughout the year. That's why a lot of the violent crime has dropped. " Lamb noted that there was a slight increase in rape cases and a couple more murder cases than the previous year.

Lamb stated, "On property crime the biggest driver is theft, burglaries and we saw a 49% drop in that so we're really excited, the direction we're going."

The police chief noted that there was a spike in domestic violence at the beginning of the pandemic but that leveled out near the end of the year. "So it wasn't significant to the point that it really caused alarm or drove the numbers in the wrong direction so we did see a little bit of an increase like in violence and some alcohol violations. "

Lamb added there were more DUI arrests and cases this year although it's not clear if that is related to COVID-19.