Crime has fluctuated in south-central Kentucky since the pandemic began

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Homicides and other violent crimes in some south-central Kentucky counties rose while others did not over the past few years.

Kentucky State Trooper Daniel Priddy says of the cases KSP has worked in the nine-county region, murders actually dropped a small amount from 2019 to 2020 and remained about the same in 2021.

“We’re glad to see that the numbers in the area, at least where we’re at, have not risen any and that anytime that murders are down or staying even, it means that they’re not getting worse,” said Priddy.

Warren County saw an increase from 7 murders in 2019 to 11 in 2020.

In 2021, there have been 7 homicides to date.

For the Bowling Green Police Department, in 2019 they worked 19 first-degree assaults and 417 burglaries.

In 2020, they worked 34 first-degree assaults and 595 burglaries.

In 2021, BGPD worked 21 first-degree assaults and 238 burglaries.

In Hart County, the Sheriff says violent crimes went up during the pandemic and shut down including domestic calls and assaults.

The Edmonson County sheriff says they also saw an increase in domestic violence calls during 2020 but have seen that number return to normal this year.

In Butler County, the Morgantown Police Chief says he has noticed violent crime decrease in 2021 but did not notice an increase in 2020.

He did, however, notice a sharp increase in petty crime during the beginning of the pandemic.

In Logan County, the Russellville police noticed an influx of shots fired calls over the past few years but most of those calls did not involve injury.

The Barren County Sheriff’s Office says their violent crime has remained pretty steady over the past few years while the Glasgow Police Department says they have seen a rise in vehicle break ins in 2021.

Glasgow PD also released their homicide statistics with one in 2019, none in 2020 and now a whopping four already in 2021.

The Simpson County Sheriff says violent crime may have risen a very small amount in 2020 and have had no homicides over the past few years.

Franklin Police have worked one homicide in 2019 and 1 in 2020 and none in 2021 and say they have not noticed any major change in violent crime.

Trooper Priddy says is not certain why crime rates change in some areas and not in others.

“I’m not really sure. It’s kind of difficult to say because when you start getting into stats it’s very difficult to see where the population is where are the populations not,” said Priddy.

Officials say mental health calls have been up pretty much across the board as well stating the issues could be caused or worsened by the pandemic or financial struggles.