Sioux Falls crime shows lowest levels per capita in five years

Last year, violent crime and property crime in Sioux Falls both reached their lowest levels since 2019.

“That is really a good-news chart,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said of the semiannual crime data report released today. “If you take away anything … I think this is what we want the people in Sioux Falls to know is that this really is a safe community and continues to be a safe community.”

Violent crime per thousand totaled 5.65, while property crime came in at 37.

Calls for service were up slightly from last year but stayed fairly consistent.

“We know crime will happen, but it’s important to be proactive in investing the resources for public safety,” TenHaken said. “We’re the safest we’ve been since pre-COVID, and COVID was a year that exploded crime across our country.”

The city’s record 16 homicides in 2024 dominated headlines, up from two in 2023 and seven in 2022.

“No one is going to argue that’s a number we should be OK with, but we have to look at what the cause is, what we’re doing and what the effects are,” Police Chief Jon Thum said. “I can work through each one and understand the back story behind it and what the driver was. This year (hypothetically), we could have six that would maybe have me more concerned.”

Aggravated assaults totaled 526, compared with 627 in 2023 and 560 in 2022.

“That shows a stable picture of where we’re at,” Thum said. Domestic assaults were up to 471, versus 420 in 2023 and 446 two years ago. Rape cases increased to 71 from 66 in 2023 and 90 in 2022.

Robberies held steady at 147, compared with 144 in 2023 and 169 two years ago. Those cases involve something being taken by force and have trended more toward “person-to-person type interaction” rather than casino or convenience store robberies, Thum said.

Following a massive public awareness campaign, stolen vehicle numbers dropped in 2024 for the first time since 2017.

“What I could also tell you is we’re still seeing the same trend,” Thum said, adding that 80 percent of stolen vehicles were unlocked and had keys in them.

Drug seizures set a record, taking into account cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.

“There’s a readily available supply of fentanyl in our community,” Thum said, calling it a “market economy” that has responded to high demand with increased supply — to the point that pill cost has dropped from $40 to $5, and some police chiefs nationwide are seeing them for $1.

Overdose activity dropped, while the number of deaths increased.

The Police Department’s violent crimes unit, which targets the worst offenders, especially those who use guns or other violent means to commit crimes, saw 80 firearms seized last year and 50 stolen vehicles recovered, in addition to 183 arrests.

Overall, “what’s encouraging is the stability through growth,” Thum said. “Most people are just convinced that crime is rising as a direct correlation to our population rising. If anything, what we’re seeing is we’re growing but remaining stable.”

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