7.11.24 – Salina Post
Kansas Bureau of Investigation
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has released the 2023 Kansas Crime Index Report. The report compiles crime statistics reported to the KBI by state and local law enforcement agencies throughout Kansas.
Violent crime analysis
The 2023 Kansas Crime Index Report indicated that violent crime in Kansas decreased by 3.7% from 2022, showing declines in each category of violent crime. A total of 13,294 violent crimes were reported in Kansas for the offenses of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault and battery. Despite this decline, violent crime in the state remained 8.6% above the 10-year average.
Property crime analysis
In 2023, overall property crimes increased by 2.6%. In Kansas, property offenses have steadily declined in recent years, making 2023 the first year since 2017 that the state experienced an uptick in property crime reports. Property crime offenses are assumed to be underreported to law enforcement.
Property index crimes have been declining for the past six years. n 2023, there were 49,754 theft offenses, which accounted for 74.5% of total property crimes reported. There were 17,028 burglary and motor vehicle thefts, which accounted for the remaining 25.5% of the property crimes reported.
Total Index Crimes: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines index crimes as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault/battery, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. In 2023, there were 66,782 property crimes and 13,294 violent crimes submitted by Kansas law enforcement agencies to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).
Total index crimes decreased 7.4% from the 10‐year average but increased 1.5% from 2022 to 2023. The total index crimes were heavily impacted by the total property index crimes due to the number of property crimes reported compared to violent crimes.
Crime Index Rate: The crime index rate is the number of all index crimes per 1,000 people. This increased from 26.7 offenses per 1,000 people in 2022, to 27.0 in 2023.
Violent Crime Index Rate: The violent crime index rate was 9.8% above the 10‐year average, but decreased 4.3% from 2022. In 2023, the violent crime index rate for Kansas was 4.5 offenses per 1,000 people. These include: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault/battery.
Murder: There were 157 murders reported in 2023, which was 3.3% above the 10‐year average, but 6.5% less than 2022. Despite this decrease, that may be a positive indicator, it was a 23.6% increase from the pre-COVID ten‐year average of 127 murders.
Finding a common circumstance for these murders is difficult, as 47.1% of the reports indicated “unknown circumstance.” Also, 16.6% of the murders listed an unknown suspect. Arguments, as a circumstance, accounted for 28.0% of murders; domestic violence murders accounted for 20.4%; illegal drug transactions totaled 1.9%; and gang activity and drive‐by incidents made up 1.9%. All other circumstances totaled 21.0% of the total murders in 2023.
Rape: Rapes were 6.0% below the 10‐year average. There was a decrease of 12.6% from 2022, and a 1.4% decrease from the 2019 pre‐COVID ten‐year average of 1,136.
Robbery: Robberies saw a 22.5% decline from the 10‐year average and a 0.6% decrease from 2022.
Aggravated Assault/Battery: Aggravated assaults and batteries have risen substantially since 2015. In 2023, they were 15.2% above the 10‐year average, but saw a 3.0% decrease from the 2022 totals. Notably, these numbers represent a 36.4% increase from the 2019 pre‐COVID ten‐year average of 8,005 per year.
Burglary: In 2023, there were 8,748 reported burglaries, which was 26.7% below the 10‐year average and 1.1% below 2022 numbers. This was the lowest number since 1966, when 10,712 were reported, and was 42.3% less than the 2019 pre‐COVID 10-year average of 15,164.
Theft: Reported thefts (other than motor vehicles) were 8.5% below the 10-year average, but 2.9% above 2022 numbers. This was a 15.6% decline from the 2019 pre‐COVID 10-year average of 58,942.
Motor Vehicle Thefts: Motor vehicle thefts were 4.9% above the 10-year average. This statistic is notable because motor vehicle thefts tend to have a higher rate of reporting compared to other property offenses, suggesting they would be a more accurate barometer of the actual number of property offenses occurring in our state. In 2023, there was a 4.8% increase from 2022, and a 15.8% increase from the 2019 pre‐COVID 10-year average of 7,149.
Arson: Arsons were 18.4% below the 10-year average and decreased by 7.7% compared to those reported in 2022. Arson figures are intended to stand apart from violent or property indices and are not included within those statistics. In 2023, there was a 31.2% decrease from the 2019 pre‐COVID 10-year average of 666.
NOTE: Data from the Kansas Crime Index report is derived from standard offense and arrest reports submitted to the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System (KIBRS) 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. It is often not possible to draw further interpretations or conclusions from the data. The KBI cautions against using data to make direct comparisons between jurisdictions. Often these comparisons are not valid as the factors influencing crime vary widely between communities.