The Killeen Police Department has recorded a double-digit increase in auto theft rates for the fourth straight month.
According to the December Crime Statistics Report released last week, the number of vehicle thefts increased by 110% in December compared to the same month in 2022.
There have been 693 vehicle thefts in Killeen over the past 12 months. Most of them, 405, were within the past four months.
KPD Sergeant Zachary Bias of the Police Department's Property Crimes Unit said there are several factors contributing to this increase in cases.
“Social media is actually contributing to the increase in vehicle theft,” Bias said. Bias said vehicle theft attempts have increased due to the popularity of videos that claim to show anyone how to “hotwire” a Kia or Hyundai.
“In the fall of 2022, we made changes to how we report attempted vehicle thefts,” Bias said. Before that, if a person reported that their car was broken into, the report likely reflected vehicle theft or criminal mischief.
The department began noticing a trend of vehicle break-ins involving the use of screwdrivers and other tools near the steering column and wires hanging from under the dashboard. The only way to report attempted vehicle theft was to include the vehicle in the actual theft category. Bias said these crimes are now being reported differently.
“The perverse effect has been a reduction in the number of robberies and criminal acts,” Bias said.
KPD says this doesn't mean the statistics aren't accurate, it's just a more definitive way to record what actually happened.
Mr Bias said this type of crime was still on the rise and car owners should take steps to stay safe from theft by parking in well-lit areas at night, locking all doors and not leaving windows or valuables unattended. We recommend that you do everything possible to ensure that It's obvious at a glance.
There are a number of crimes that decreased month-over-month in December, and even from 2022 to 2023. KPD includes figures for crimes against persons for the month of December, and overall he recorded an increase of 12.33% compared to the December 2022 figures. The number of crimes against persons last month decreased by 9%, and crimes against society decreased by 6.47% compared to December 2022.
crimes against people
Two murders were recorded last month, as well as in December 2022, according to a KPD report.
For the period January 1 to December 31, 2023, there were 9 cases, a 52.6% decrease compared to the 19 cases reported for the same period in 2022. According to a footnote from KPD, “one incident occurred due to a reporting error.” Murders in 2023 will not be properly reported. The murder case is still awaiting an official resolution. ”
Rape reports decreased from nine in December 2022 to seven in December 2023, a 22% month-on-month decrease. However, year-to-date statistics show that 78 rape cases were reported in the 12 months of 2023, and 67 rape cases were reported from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. Last year, it increased by 16.42%.
The number of sodomy cases increased from two in December 2022 to one in December 2023. According to the report, there were 17 reports in 2022 compared to 9 in 2023, an increase of 16.42%.
There were four reports of fondling in December, compared to one reported in December 2022. There have been 45 reports since the beginning of the year, and 42 in 2022. This is a decrease of 7.14% from 2022 to 2023.
Aggravated assault reports increased slightly in December to 57 compared to 51 in the same month in 2022, an increase of 11.76%. For the year, there were 606 reports of aggravated assault in 2023, compared to 685 in the same period in 2022, a decrease of 11.53% from last year's statistics.
Reports of simple assaults increased by 7.3% to 147 in December 2023 compared to 137 in December 2022. Overall, from January 1 to December 31, 2023, the number increased slightly to 1,927 cases. In comparison, he had 1,879 cases during the same period in 2022, an increase of 2.55%.
Reports of threats increased by 31% to 21 in the last month, and 16 were reported in December 2022. There were 227 cases reported between January 1 and December 31, 2023, which is a decrease from the same period in 2022. With 241 cases reported, this is a decrease of 5.81%.
In December 2023, there were seven reports of kidnapping/abduction, while in the same month in 2022 there was only one report. For the period January 1 to December 31, 2023, there were 44 reports compared to 33 reports for the same period. In 2022, it will increase by 33%.
property crime
There were nine robberies reported in December, compared to eight in the same month in 2022. There were 71 robberies reported from January 1 to December 31, 2023, compared to 85 for the same period in 2022, a decrease of 16.47%. In the robbery report.
One arson incident was reported in December and two in December 2022. Seven arson incidents were reported from January 1 to December 31, 2023, and six arson incidents were reported during the same period in 2022.
The statistics for burglaries, break-ins and break-ins in December last year were reported to be 54, a decrease of 14.29% compared to 63 in the same month last year. From January 1, 2023 to December 31, there were 507 incidents reported, a decrease of almost 11% compared to 568 in the same period last year.
Theft/theft crimes were on a downward trend with 115 incidents reported in December, with 157 incidents reported in the same month in 2022. Compared to the same period last year from January 1st to December 31st, there were 1,749 reported cases, and 1,947 cases were reported for the same period in 2022. It will decrease from 2022 to 2023.
Auto thefts continue to increase dramatically, with 78 reported in December compared to 37 in the same month in 2022. This represents a 110% month-over-month increase. From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, there were 693 reports, compared to 432 reports for the same period in 2022. This is an increase of 60.42%.
crimes against society
The number of drug and narcotics violations remained flat from last year, with 69 reported in December, one less than the same month in 2022. Overall, the number of these violations decreased by 17.24% from January 1 to December 31, 2023, to 912 of 1,102. It also reported violations during the same period in 2022.
Drug paraphernalia violations also remained flat with 26 reported last month compared to 25 reported in December 2022. From January 1 to December 31, 2023, 390 cases were reported last year, and 501 cases were reported for the same period in 2022, a 22% decrease. 2022.
According to statistics on pornography/obscene material, there were no reports in December 2022, 3 reports in December 2022, but 29 in the period from January 1 to December 31, 2023. There were 22 reports in December 2023, an increase of 31.82% compared to 22 in December 2023. Same period in 2022.
Violations of weapons laws also decreased by 17.5% to 33 cases in December 2023, and 44 cases in December 2022. For the period January 1 to December 31, 2023, 407 cases were reported, compared to 438 cases for the same period in December 2023. 2022. The overall decline was 7%.
According to KPD's accident summary, there were a total of 186 accidents in December, and 252 in the same month in 2022. Of these, 43 accidents resulted in injuries in December 2023, while 80 injuries were reported in December 2022, a decrease of 7.5%. From 2023 to 2022, crashes with injuries occurred. There was one fatal accident in December 2023 and one fatal accident in December 2022.
There were 12 fatal accidents between January 1 and December 31, 2023, compared to 10 during the same period in 2022, an increase of 20%.
