Jason R.

Ravnsborg Charles McGuigan

South Dakota Attorney General Chief Deputy Attorney General
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 2, 2019
CONTACT: Tim Bormann (605) 773-3215

CRIME IN SOUTH DAKOTA 2018 PUBLICATION RELEASED

PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg released today the Crime in South
Dakota 2018 report. This report is compiled annually by the Attorney General’s
Criminal Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) and is the most accurate and
comprehensive compilation of criminal statistics in the state as it reflects the actual
arrest and reporting information by South Dakota law enforcement. Criminal
statistics are an indispensable asset to aid in identifying trends in criminal activity
which, in turn, assists in crime prevention and enforcement efforts across South
Dakota.

“The statistics we release today reinforce, once again, that South Dakota remains a
safe place to live thanks to strong community involvement and the vigilant efforts of
law enforcement,” said Ravnsborg. “Our statistics show that we need to continue to
strengthen our prevention, enforcement, and rehabilitative efforts in the areas of drug
and alcohol addiction, but overall our law enforcement is working hard to KEEP
SOUTH DAKOTA SAFE.”

South Dakota law enforcement agencies reported a total of 45,142 arrests involving
75,955 offenses in 2018. More serious offenses accounted for a total of 20,675 arrests
and include the following: murder (1st and 2nd degree)-11, sex offenses-80, assault-
5,471, larceny/theft-1,643, fraud-800, drug/narcotic-8,205, prostitution-16,
kidnapping-56, robbery-74, arson-27, burglary-306, motor vehicle theft-205,
counterfeiting-133, embezzlement-31, stolen property-158, destruction of property-
576, pornography/obscene material-21, and weapon law violations-260. Less serious
offenses included the following, DUI-6,087 (6,671 in 2017), liquor law violations-2,218
and disorderly conduct-2,495.

Some of the statistics which can be found in the report include a 28% drop in sex
offenses from 2017, as well as a 32% decrease in thefts for that same period, yet those
lower numbers of thefts reported still accounted for more than $28 million worth of
property crime loss. At the same time South Dakota has still seen an overall increase
of 49.37% in drug offenses over the past six years, reinforcing the knowledge that our
law enforcement must remain vigilant and prepared to combat this issue.

For comparison purposes please note that some statistics reflect arrest numbers while
others identify incident reports.

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
You can read the full report at:

https://atg.sd.gov/docs/SAC2018CSD%20black%20and%20white.pdf

TOTAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS

50,000

40,000

30,000

44,265
36,264

37,857
33,340
33,012

37,699

40,069

42,200
31,801

45,142
20,000

10,000

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

JUVENILE ARREST CATEGORIES

511
967
215
762

Drug Violations Assault Destruction of Property Theft/Larceny

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 JUVENILE ARRESTS

7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000

5,056
6,342

5,583
6,293

4,710
6,976

6,617

5,026
5,270
4,888
1,000
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

MURDER (Includes 1st and 2nd Degree) ARRESTS

30

25

20

15

10

5 16 11 15 12 20 27 21 19
15 11
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

SEX OFFENSES ARRESTS

180
160
140
120
100
80
60 163 144
121 132 108 111 117 96 111
40 80
20
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 FORCIBLE RAPE ARRESTS

80
70
60
50
40
30
20 74 55 69 52 57
54 37 52 47 41
10
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

NEGLIGENT MANSLAUGHTER ARRESTS

2.5

1.5

1
2 1 1 1 1 2 3
0.5
0 0 0
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

ASSAULT ARRESTS

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000
5,471
4,420
4,306
3,776

4,091

4,328

4,731
4,249

4,830
4,670

1,000

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 LARCENY/THEFT ARRESTS

3,500
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500

3,162

2,918

2,445
1,000

1,643
3,309

3,117

3,104

3,323

3,420
2,821
500
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

FRAUD ARRESTS

800
700
600
500
400
300 321 321 524 557 639 800
365 363 348 441
200
100
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

DRUG ARRESTS

9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
8,224

8,205
7,671
5,577

6,818
6,576
3,315

3,908
3,347

4,584

2,000
1,000
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 KIDNAPPING ARRESTS

60

50

40

30

20

10
13 15 20 19 20 29 36 51 40 56
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

PROSTITUTION ARRESTS

60
53
50
41
40 34
30 25
20 19
20 13 13 13
10 3
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

ROBBERY ARRESTS

80
70
60
50
40
30
20 51 63 74
44 38 50 38 70 61 70
10
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 ARSON ARRESTS

35
30
25
20
15
10
5 14 16 30 31 27
23 27 18 13 8
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

BURGLARY ARRESTS

450 407
383 391 387 393
400 374 362
350 329
291 306
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT ARRESTS

300

250

200

150

100
217
169

146

205
273
158
125

274
160

146

50

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 COUNTERFEITING/FORGERY ARRESTS

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20 113 171 127 82 106 78 98 109 133
19
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

EMBEZZLEMENT ARRESTS

60

50

40

30

20 52
42 35 29 27 36 34 40 38 31
10

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

STOLEN PROPERTY ARRESTS

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40 91 154 180 158
90 79 47 69 105 120
20
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 DESTRUCTION/DAMAGE/VANDALISM OF PROPERTY ARRESTS

800 735 724

681
700 638 630 610
579 551 576
600
488
500
400
300
200
100
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

PORNOGRAPHY/OBSCENE MATERIAL ARRESTS

40
35
30
25
20
15
10 40 24 21
13 23 29 23 19 29 15
5
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

WEAPON LAW ARRESTS

300

250

200

150

100
260
158

163

226
175

184

203

248
182

195

50

0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/
 DUI ARRESTS

6,800
6,600
6,400
6,200
6,000
5,800

6,671
6,606
5,600

6,535
6,541

5,776

5,775

6,427

6,087
5,987

6,182
5,400
5,200
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

NUMBER OF CERTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

2,000
1,950
1,900
1,850
1,800
1,750
1,700

1,958
1,984
1,650
1,774

1,816
1,790

1,696
1,792

1,907
1,769

1,854

1,600
1,550
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

POPULATION

900,000
880,000
860,000
840,000
820,000
882,235
874,500

800,000
844,877

853,175

865,454
833,354

858,469
824,082
812,383

814,180

780,000
760,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

-30-

1302 E. Hwy 14, Suite 1 • Pierre, SD 57501 • 605-773-3215

http://atg.sd.gov/