City crackdown on ‘exhibition driving,’ fewer assaults among crime trends so far this year

Fewer assaults and stolen vehicles combined with more people being held accountable for driving infractions are among the crime-related trends being seen so far this year in Sioux Falls.

Law enforcement officials and city leaders gave a semiannual update on public safety, the day after the city’s 10th homicide was recorded for the year.

The murder total is “the one that grabs everyone’s attention because they’re huge, impactful events,” Police Chief Jon Thum said.

The city had nine homicides for the same time last year, ending with a total of 16. Two years ago, there were two through August.

The city continues to avoid random acts of violence, particularly in its homicides, Thum said.

“It’s people who know each other, are associates of each other, typically are consuming alcohol together, or there’s some issue where people know each other.”

The city’s total calls for service are holding steady at 88,703 through August.

At the end of last year, the city’s property and violent crimes per capita were down from 2023. Those numbers won’t be released until the next briefing after the end of this year.

“Last year, we felt really good about where we ended our year in terms of the public safety efforts in our community,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said. “This is not a good place to be a criminal, and I think people know that.”

One “big win we’ve had so far this year is we have really been doubling and tripling down on the number of saturation patrols,” he added.

Those patrols have resulted in 1,413 citations compared with 775 for the same time last year — things like “exhibition” driving, including speeding and noise-related issues, TenHaken said, specifically mentioning along Veterans Parkway.

He also pointed out the number of suicides in the community at 23 as of the end of August, compared with 19 a year ago and 27 two years ago.

“We continue to point out all the resources available to the community, things like 988 and the Helpline Center,” TenHaken said. “Know the signs, know the symptoms to check on family and friends to make sure that number stays as low as possible.”

Crime trends

Thum calls the assault numbers through August “a really positive trend.”

After years of increases, “we’re seeing that trend reverse. We’re seeing numbers go down,” he said.

Aggravated assaults totaled 352 compared with 377 for the same time last year, while domestic assaults took a big drop to 236 from 308.

Thum credits area nonprofits for helping people “break the cycle of domestic violence,” he said. “I think we’re seeing effective nonprofit work within our community.”

Robberies were stable at 96 through August compared with 84 last year and 95 two years ago.

“Sioux Falls used to be known for its casino robberies, and that’s what drove some of those numbers back in the day,” Thum said. “We’re not seeing those trends. We’re seeing a lot of person-to-person interactions.”

One highlight for the year so far: stolen vehicles. The number through Sept. 15 has dropped to 701 compared with 1,011 for the same time in 2024 and 1,124 two years ago.

“The trend from 2023 is dramatic,” Thum said. “It happens with public education, repeat messaging,” along with finding people stealing vehicles “and making sure they’re held accountable.”

The department’s new real-time information center, which allows for greater monitoring of the city through technology, has helped, he said.

“We’re just getting this rolling in a built-out sense, and so far, it has been remarkable the impact it has had,” Thum said.

So far, 23 vehicles have been recovered, 43 people have been arrested, and $170,000 in property has been identified. The center has allowed police to close 113 calls before an officer needed to physically respond.

Drug seizures are showing some changes. Seizures of methamphetamine and marijuana are fairly stable, while “some of our fentanyl, heroin and cocaine is way down,” Thum said. “It’s not for lack of effort, but we do see a disruption to supply, which therefore translates to a different drug climate.”

Demand also is somewhat down, he said.

“People aren’t seeking it like they were,” Thum said. “We’ll always have people who are seeking drugs, but this is encouraging.”

Overdose deaths tend to track accordingly, he said. Through August, they totaled 13 versus 14 last year.

“We’ve seen them decrease,” Thum said. “There’s still too many, but again we’re pretty stable there.”

The overall downward trend has been supported by significant collaboration among law enforcement agencies, he added.

“We are really good at what we do across the board from a law enforcement standpoint. our results speak for themselves but we would like less work. How do we get into rehabilitative services? How do we get into early intervention? How do we get into making sure people are being managed and supervised when they’re out so that we can affect the entire system?”

To view the full briefing, click below.