Homicides in Sioux Falls area are the lowest they've been in 14 years, police say

The Sioux Falls area community has seen only two homicides within the last year, the lowest number since 2009, said Sioux Falls Police Chief Jon Thum at a crime statistics news conference held by law enforcement agencies this week.

More: South Dakota long-term care committee’s work translates into legislative success

Mayor Paul TenHaken, along with Thum, Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, Minnehaha County Chief Deputy Jeff Gromer and Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar, brought attention to 2023’s crime statistics Tuesday morning.

The news conference, previously an annual occurrence, is now held every six months by officials in an effort to bring attention to their public safety work as a collaborative, team effort, TenHaken said. Different law enforcement departments have worked together to achieve this, along with the community which has been a solid support, making this a two-way street, he said.

More: Former childcare worker sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexual contact with children

“A lot of cities would love to be giving this briefing today, which is a good news briefing in terms of the state of public safety in our community,” TenHaken said. “I am going to puff my chest on that fact a little bit, because we have been intentionally investing in public safety.”

TenHaken began the press conference by touching upon the relationship between population and crime statistics in the community, saying the gradual rise in population will, unfortunately and inevitably, lead to a rise in crime. He said while crimes have risen, the city’s clearance rates for different kinds of crimes is about twice that of the nation’s clearance rates, which is a good sign.

Which crime numbers have seen a drop in 2023?

In the crimes against persons category, there has been a drop in the number of homicides from seven in 2022 to just two in 2023, which is the lowest number seen in the last 14 years, Thum said.

“We’re really encouraged to see that number, especially seeing what we had in the year before,” said Thum. “When we talk about facts versus perception, we still have people telling us that homicides were very high last year. I think sometimes people need to pay attention to the stats that are provided.”

Rape, robbery and commercial burglary numbers have decreased in the last year, Thum said. And while there is an increase in aggravated assaults, domestic assaults seeing a decrease is a huge win for the community.

“This is something that I’m particularly proud of. This isn’t just a police department win, this is a community win,” Thum said. “Our NGOs and the different shelters that are out there have done great work in supporting victims. We’ve made it easier for victims to come forward, receive support, get out of the cycle of violence that they’re in, and that’s something that we all can share.”

Which crimes have seen a spike?

Thum also talked about the statistics on stolen vehicles, which have seen an increase from 346 in 2014 to 1,600 in 2023, where more than 80% of these thefts occur because the keys are left in the vehicles and they’re unlocked, he said. Frauds, larcenies and vandalisms have also seen a rise, causing law enforcement to look into the trend and recognize its nuances.

In terms of crimes at the Minnehaha County Jail, Gromer talked about how there is a rise in assaults on officers, which is a reflection of how the jail populations are growing more problematic. The jail’s current capacity is about 603 beds, with 393 jail inmates in Minnehaha County, according to statistics from March 6.

The idea is to control the population within the jail to make sure that the individuals housed within are ones who really need to be there, and individuals who are within the communities are doing so safely for everyone, Gromer said.

What are officials most concerned about?

The news conference also focused a lot of attention on drug crimes in the community. Thum started out with talking about drugs seized from the public, especially methamphetamine, fentanyl and marijuana. The amount of fentanyl seized by law enforcement has increased, because of its plentiful market supply and the price going down, which has inadvertently influenced drug overdoses as well.

More: Sioux Falls man connected to 2022 aggravated assaults sentenced to 70 years in prison Thursday

“Last year, we seized a record amount of fentanyl,” Thum said. “It’s more and more prevalent (and) more available. The price has plummeted (and) that’s a good indicator of how much the supply is.”

In terms of the issue of drugs nationally, Milstead, as a member of the Midwest HIDTA Executive Board, talked about the route through which fentanyl and methamphetamine come into the country. The High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area board, which represents six states in the Midwest under the office of National Drug Control, focuses on interagency drug control to eliminate or reduce drug threats.

Milstead said Chinese pharmaceutical companies are the source of precursors and fentanyl, which is flowing into the United States particularly through the southwest border, where Customs and Border Patrol seized 26,700 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022. This could be quantified to 6 million lethal doses of fentanyl, he said.

“I can assure you as chairman of the National Sheriff’s Drug Enforcement Committee, representing over 3,000 sheriffs in America, if we are unable to secure our southwest border, we will continue to see this unprecedented flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.,” Milstead said.

Local drug overdose numbers, which have seen a rise in the last couple years, is a related consequence to the drug quantity numbers at the national level which are coming into the country, said Milstead. Currently, he said there are people who are taking 20 to 30 fentanyl pills a day.

While deaths by overdose numbers have seen a fall, according to statistics presented by Thum, he emphasized how that was not a reason to celebrate since there were still 16 deaths by overdose which took place in the last year.

More: Exiting Sioux Falls city councilors concerned to see their seats going uncontested

“There’s two main cartels in Mexico, the Jalisco and the Sinaloa cartels, (which) are receiving shipments from Chinese pharmaceutical companies,” Milstead said. “The fingers of both these cartels reach into our own communities. You’re one pill away from death, with the pills that are on the market today.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Officials say 2023 homicide number is lowest in the last 14 years