The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has released their annual crime report – the 2016 Kansas Crime Index Report (KCIR).

The report compiles crime statistics from local and state law enforcement agencies that are submitted through the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System (KIBRS).

The 2016 KCIR reflected a statewide increase of 4.2 percent in violent crimes such as murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults and batteries. This increase comes on the heels of a 11.2 percent increase in violent crimes in the previous year.

The incidences of murder continued to rise last year – in 2016, Kansas had a total of 148 murders reported, an increase of 12.1 percent over the number reported in 2015. Fourteen percent of those murders involved multiple murders in a single incident. Murders in the state are 24 percent above the 10 year average.

The murder rate in 2016 is the highest Kansas has seen since the year 2000, when 156 murders were reported. The highest murder rate recorded in the state was in 1993 with 188 murders reported.

Total crimes in the state are below the 10 year average by 5.6 percent, with an average of 30 crimes per 1000 people.

In Geary County, crimes reported in 2016 were are a rate of approximately 22 crimes per 1000 people; there were 209 violent crimes, equating to a rate of 5.6 per 1000 people.

For the full 2016 Kansas Crime Index report visit: kansas.gov/kbi.