Unveiling the Truth: What Crime Statistics Say About Safety in Jonesboro

JONESBORO, Ark. – Crime statistics for the City of Jonesboro were released to NEA Report and while some crimes have been on a steady decline, others have spiked in recent years. Most substantially, major crimes against persons have fallen since 2020 – but they’re still much higher than in 2013.

NEA Report charted some of the more significant figures to help the community get a better idea of what the numbers mean.

Major Crimes Against Persons

It is no surprise to anyone that Jonesboro’s population has increased over the years. The argument is that this population increase is correlative to the crime increase. But the increase for major crimes is much steeper than the population growth. From 2013 to 2020, the Jonesboro population grew by 9.9-percent (71,582 to 78,576). However, major crimes against persons increased by 73.8-percent (333 to 579). If we place both values at 100 beginning in 2013, the percentage increase for each year looks like this:

We charted data for the specific crime of murder. Murders have steadily risen in Jonesboro over the past ten years, peaking at 11 in 2020, the year the pandemic began. Although this year’s numbers may still change, 2023 is currently at four murders, far closer to ten years ago.

For comparison, Memphis recorded 302 homicides and 247 murders for 2022, according to Fox 13. Jonesboro has a long way to go before it is the new Memphis (sorry, comments section).

There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of robberies committed each year. However, kidnappings have almost doubled. Rape reports have also increased in Jonesboro in recent years, with 56 reported in 2022, the highest on record for the past ten years.

Crimes Against Property

Crimes committed against property, such as arson, burglary, shoplifting, theft, etc… have shown measurable decreases in recent years, according to JPD’s crime statistics. The numbers peaked in 2020 at 7,058 but have since dropped back 5,661 in 2022, compared to 5,616 in 2013. Accounting for the population increase, that is a drop.

Purse-snatching, shoplifting, and theft from a building have all declined since 2013. Unfortunately, motor vehicle thefts have more than doubled since 2013.

Burglaries have trended downward in Jonesboro, as well.

Crimes of Proactive Policing

One area that has grown every year are arrests or crimes pursued under proactive policing. These include drug arrests, drug violations, pornography or obscene materials, gambling equipment, prostitution, weapon law violations, driving under the influence, drunkenness, or trespassing.

Two areas that have been the exception are DUI and drunkenness charges. In 2013, 424 DUIs were recorded in Jonesboro. That number was down to 289 in 2022, with it falling even lower in years prior. Drunken charges went from 415 in 2013 to 241 in 2022, again with years of even lower numbers.

For 2022, this pie chart shows the make-up of Proactive Policing crimes by specific type.

The full statistics include significantly more information than we can represent in a story. If you want to view the data in an Excel spreadsheet, it is available here:

10 Year Crime Stats – 2023 

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We talked to Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott about what the numbers say and his thoughts about them. Our questions, with his answers, are below.

What’s your takeaway from the crime numbers? 

When you look at the total numbers across the top there, you’ll see the trend has gone down since 2020. That was a peak year for the crimes against persons category. When people look at crime stats in Jonesboro, they’re pretty much worried about the crimes against persons, likelihood of being assaulted or such on the streets in Jonesboro. Then, we dive into it a little deeper and figure out that there are a few areas of town where it is more prone to happening than others. Then, you break it down further and what is the nexus on this? Drugs. People are strung out on drugs or they’ll commit a robbery to support the habit. That’s kind of the driving force behind it. It’s nothing new. Our goal is lets get the root, and that’s drugs.

And now working with our federal agencies, we’re picking this stuff off before it gets to Jonesboro. You don’t see a lot of that in the news.

Major crimes against persons are down since 2020, but they’re up pretty significantly since 2013. Still up 55-percent or so. Why is that?

You’ve got a growth in population of about 7,000 or 8,000 people. But of course, the increase in the use of drugs is always going to be a driving factor. The growth of the city, along with the good comes some of the bad element. We’re kind of the melting pot of the delta. We have people from all over who come to Jonesboro and along with the good stuff comes the bad stuff. But it’s part of the growing pains, which is unfortunate. You don’t always do what you’ve always done. You’ve got to think outside of the box. That’s why I brought in and credentialed my officers as federal agents so we could get that federal time instead of the revolving door that is the state penitentiary.

Rapes hit a ten-year high at 56 last year. Do you have any insight into those numbers? 

We had to do a breakdown on that. Essentially, the biggest majority of these, the victim knew the offender. So, most of those situations get into the date rape or the victim withdrew consent and things happened. You also have to take away the unfounded, which are unfortunate because they make things more difficult down the road for the real victims. But with victim awareness and the education component, yes, I think more women are stepping up and refusing to be a victim. If we can prosecute the case, we certainly want to prosecute the case, but also, that person may have had something bottled up for years they’re just wanting to get out.

Crimes against property are down since 2020 and considering the population curve, down from 2013 as well. What would you say has caused this?

We try to be as proactive as we can with the resources that we’ve got. We all know that over the past several years, the struggles of recruiting and retention not only here but for law enforcement across the country has been a huge challenge. And it wasn’t until recently, with Mayor Copenhaver, we underwent two pay changes that has brought us up to a full staffing level. Despite the fact that we’ve been short as much as 25 officers at once in the past, I commend the work of the men and women of the PD everyday. When you look at the crimes of proactive policing, they’re out here hustling. They live in the community too, and they don’t want to see crime going up. It’s working together, aggressive prosecution. The word is getting around that we’re not going to mess around here. I hate that it may cross over in to some other towns, but I’ve got to take care of Jonesboro.

Shoplifting numbers haven’t changed much since 2020 but compared to 2013, they’ve consistently gone down. Why do you think that is? 

2015 was our peak year. So you’ve got to ask yourself, do the stores have more loss prevention people working than they did then. Shoplifting has always gone on. It’s a matter of getting those individuals apprehended. That’s a number but we really don’t know. I think it’s far more than gets reported.

The exception seems to be in thefts involving motor vehicles. Those numbers have more than doubled. What has happened?

Here recently, the KIA challenge has been a big deal. There was a video on YouTube on how to steal a KIA and they’ll go do it, it’s easy, and they drive off. Certain vehicles are easy targets for theft and some of the gang members realize that, snag a vehicle, commit a crime, dump the vehicle and move on.

Crimes of proactive policing have seen steady increases, from 2,509 in 2013 up to 4,093 in 2022. Is this because of the growth in the department?

That is the officers out here making arrests. As you can see with the narcotic violations, that’s them encountering people on the streets with drugs and making those arrests. Those numbers have obviously gone up and that’s the number I want to see go up. It just tells me what these officers are doing day in and day out. They’re getting this toxic substance off our streets that’s ruining families and lives of individuals. We don’t want this stuff on our streets.

We’re going to keep crime down as much as we can but if we catch you, we’re going to prosecute you.