10-Year Trend Shows Declining Crime in Kent

Major crimes have declined in Kent in the past decade, but Kent Police Chief Michelle Lee doesn't expect that trend to continue.

"I hope that continues,“ Lee said. "If I know trends, it won’t continue to decline. That’s why I say we’re going to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Between 2000 and 2010, the number of all eight major crimes — murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, car theft, arson and theft — declined overall in Kent by 35.6 percent, according to the police department's 2010 annual report. The statistics are based on crime reports filed annually with the FBI.

Some numbers from the report include:

• Four people were murdered in Kent in the past decade.
• The number of rapes peaked in 2003 at 14.
• The most theft cases occurred in 2001 with 712.
• 2009 recorded the fewest arson cases with 19. The most, 67, were reported in 2005.

The 10-year decline in major crimes occurred as other numbers, such as population and police staffing, stayed relatively flat in Kent.

In 2000, Kent's population was 27,906. In 2009, Kent's population was 27,951, according to the .

Police staffing numbers for the Kent police department have fluctuated only slightly between 40 and 42 uniform officers in the past decade. Staffing at the Police Department also has stayed relatively flat, with the exception of 2010 when the department hired six new officers.

One exception to the numbers has been an increase in enrollment at Kent State, which now has more than 40,000 students enrolled with about 25,000 attending the Kent campus.

“I dont’ have an explanation for it," Lee said of the drop in major crimes. "It is happening throughout the country. Maybe it’s educational. I don’t exactly know what it is, but we’re riding the wave while it lasts.”

Read the entire Kent police 2010 annual report online.