Sheriff James R. Metts
Ed.D,CHS-III,CJM,L.L.D.
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CRIME STATISTICS
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 The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department submits crime statistics to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the FBI. These crime statistics help guide law enforcement in understanding and responding to crime variations. These statistics are evaluated by SLED and are officially released four to eight months after the end of each calendar year. Crimes reported to SLED include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. These crime types are referred to as “Index Crimes”. For media inquiries and official reporting, the Sheriff’s Department uses these Index Crime statistics reported by SLED at the end of each year.
 In 2006, there was a 3% overall decrease in Index Crimes in Lexington County. Although property crimes such as burglary and larceny fluctuate each year, Lexington County has been fortunate to have a relatively low level of violent crime with an average of 8 homicides per year. In most of these homicides, the victim knew or was related to the suspect. The highest number of homicides occurring in a single year was 19 in 1992, and the fewest was in 1991 with 2 homicides. Robberies increased in Lexington County in the late 1980’s as more and more businesses relocated to and began operating in Lexington County. However, during the past couple of years, the number of robberies has declined.
 Nationwide, there was a peak in crime during the early to mid 1990’s. This same crime spike was experienced here in Lexington County, as well. However, since 1992, there has been a continuing crime decrease in Lexington County, and in 2005, crime in Lexington County reached its lowest point in 20 years (according to data gathered from FBI Uniform Crime Reports).
However, as crime has decreased, calls for law enforcement service have increased dramatically. In 1985, there were approximately 35,000 calls-for-service handled by the Sheriff’s Department. This number increased to approximately 110,000 in 2006.
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CRIME STATISTICS
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