“The final numbers do indicate that in 2022 despite a rapidly growing city, Locust remains a very safe city with an overall low volume of crime and criminal activity,” Chief Jeff Shew wrote.

A few data points from the report include:

• an 11% increase General Law Enforcement/Criminal Activity calls, driven mainly by a rise in traffic offenses (from 80 in 2021 to 139 in 2022) and weapons violations (from 14 in 2021 to 18 in 2022).
• 278 calls related to theft and fraud, driven largely by larcenies reported by local businesses, which increased by about 38% (from 141 in 2021 to 194 last year).
• calls related to alcohol/drugs decreasing about 13%, including a 10% decline in drug offenses (from 82 in 2021 to 72 in 2022).
• 18 assault offenses, down from 19 in 2021. For violent crimes, there were four sex offenses last year, down from six in 2021.
• 387 total arrests last year compared to 320 in 2021. This is mainly due to notable increases in minor charges (+28), failing to appear for warrants (+13), driving with a revoked license (+10) misdemeanor larceny (+7) and concealed weapon violations (+7).
• a nearly 8% decrease in General Service calls, though there were upticks when it came to calls for service and assisting motorists.
• a 13% increase in total citation charges, including a 25% increase in vehicle violations such as an expired registration and 4% increase for speeding.
• 211 traffic crashes, the highest total since 2018, when 214 were reported.

Locust officers completed 24,768 patrols of neighborhoods and businesses in 2022, down from 28,422 in 2021.