Some violent crimes, auto thefts up in Wichita

The number of some violent crimes —– rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults — and auto thefts have trended up over the past five years, according to Wichita police data.

Many of the nation’s largest cities have seen a recent rise in violent crime, Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay said.

Although some crime rose, Wichita police are solving a relatively high percentage of the cases, particularly when compared with national rates, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports.

Here are the number of crimes that occurred in 2016, and WPD’s “clearance” or solve rates for those kinds of crimes. Clearance rates may include some crimes that originally occurred the previous year.

▪ 34 homicides, 91.1 percent clearance rate

▪ 352 rapes, 73.5 percent clearance rate

▪ 683 robberies, 39.1 percent clearance rate

▪ 2,105 aggravated assaults, 72.9 percent clearance rate

▪ 16,727 larcenies, 16.9 percent clearance rate

▪ 2,106 auto thefts, 21 percent clearance rate

▪ 3,507 burglaries, 16.3 percent clearance rate

Compared with 30 years ago, overall crime numbers have trended down in most categories — but not all.

Rapes have shown a gradual increase over the years, which could be attributed to more victims reporting the crime to authorities.

But nationwide, rape remains one of the most under-reported crimes, said Wichita police Lt. Jason Stephens. He heads the unit that investigates sex crimes against people 16 and older.

“I would like to think that more victims are coming forward,” Stephens said.

Aggravated assault

Aggravated assaults also have shown a significant increase locally over the past 30 years. In 2016, there were more than three times as many aggravated assaults as there were in 1986.

Perhaps the most concerning crime number in Wichita, Ramsay said, is the increase in aggravated assault.

The number grew from 1,674 in 2015 to 2,105 last year. That is almost a 26 percent increase.

“I’m alarmed at the increase,” Ramsay said.

The police chief said he wants to see “solid research as to why this is increasing. If we are going to reduce it, we need a solid answer.”

The proliferation of guns is a political issue, Ramsay said, “and so you need solid research, not opinions, if you’re going to address it.”

Road rage — in which “a gun comes out” — is a significant factor in aggravated assaults, he said.

Too many times, he said, the crimes are committed by felons who shouldn’t have a gun.

Another factor in aggravated assaults is feuding among gangs. Ramsay noted that over four to six weeks this summer, the feuding fueled about 30 shootings.

Homicides, domestic violence

The number of Wichita homicides last year — 34 — was the highest since the 42 in 2007, police data show.

Still, police solved 31 of the 34 homicides, said Lt. Todd Ojile, head of the homicide unit. That is a “very high” solve rate, Ramsay said.

“This is a bad place to commit homicides. Because we’re going to catch you,” Ramsay said.

The unit that investigates homicides is “one area I don’t want to touch,” he said. “What they’re doing works.”

Domestic violence always accounts for a significant number of homicides. In 2016, seven of the 34 homicides were due to domestic violence.

Another seven of the homicides involved gang members, Ojile said.

Officials are trying to get a grant to pay for an audit of how the system responds to domestic crimes — from the 911 call, to the police response, to the punishment phase. The goal is to prevent domestic violence, he said.

One promising tool to solve violent crimes, Ramsay said, is “ballistic imaging” and gun tracing, which help tie crimes together.

Ballistic imaging is fingerprinting for guns. It allows investigators to link shell casings to different crimes. Police are working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to begin using ballistic imaging for all crimes, Ramsay said.

He also would like to add a new technology, at a cost of about $175,000 a year, that allows investigators to determine where gunshots came from, the approximate speed of a vehicle from which shots are fired, whether two people are shooting at each other and who shot first.

Part of what is fueling auto thefts, Ramsay said, is that “penalties are just too low for that.”

A nuisance ordinance is focusing on repeat criminal activity at certain addresses.

And a community policing grant has been obtained to allow police to focus on high-crime areas in the Broadway corridor. It will involve foot and bike patrols.

“So we’re trying to line things up,” Ramsay said.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Some violent crimes, auto thefts up in Wichita."