City of Kent crime numbers drop in 2024 compared to 2023

Crimes are down in the city this year compared to 2023 in seven major categories tracked by the Kent Police Department.

That includes drops of 39% in vehicle thefts, 27% in commercial burglaries and 21% in robberies, according to statistics released by Police Chief Rafael Padilla during his Public Safety Report at the Dec. 10 City Council meeting. The numbers are from Jan. 1 to Nov. 25 in 2024 and 2023.

“I’m excited we’re down in every category but we are coming down from record highs,” Padilla said during the meeting. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we’ll take the wins when we can get them. We’re down significantly in a couple and down in every category.”

Vehicle thefts dropped from 2,063 in 2023 to 1,242 in 2024, a decrease of 39%. Commercial burglaries dropped from 681 to 495, a decrease of 27%. Robberies dropped from 238 to 186, a drop of 21%.

The next highest decreases included shootings with 159 in 2023 compared to 138 in 2024, a drop of 13%. Residential burglaries dropped from 209 to 187, a decrease of 10%. Aggravated assaults (not domestic violence) dropped from 189 to 177, a decrease of 6%. Vehicle prowls dropped from 846 to 809, a decrease of 4%.

Padilla said during his report that even though the stats aren’t for the entire year, he expects the numbers to be close to year end, especially the differences between 2024 and 2023.

“I really want to see shootings and robberies come down because they are the most violent,” Padilla said.

The chief released further number breakdowns for verified shootings, which dropped from 159 in 2023 to 138 this year. The total number of shootings was 168 in 2022 and 163 in 2021.

“The total is encouraging because we’re down somewhat from the last few years, we finished down pretty significantly so,” Padilla said.

The number of homicides by firearms dropped from 13 in 2023 to 10 this year. The homicide by firearms were eight in 2022, 10 in 2021 and four in 2020. Three of the homicides in 2024 occurred between Nov. 21 and Dec. 8.

People injured in shootings dropped from 38 last year to 35 this year. The number of those injured was 41 in 2022 and 45 in 2021. Shootings that caused property damage dropped from 40 in 2023 to 34. Those numbers were 54 in 2022 and 38 in 2021. Shots fired, but not known if anyone or anything was hit, dropped from 68 in 2023 to 62 in 2024. The previous numbers were 65 in 2022 and 70 in 2021.

Reasons for less crime

Padilla mentioned several reasons for the decrease in crime across the city.

After a few years of numerous officers leaving the force (retiring or other jobs) and causing a shortage, staffing is up to full at 167 officers based on what the city budget allows. The City Council also approved a 2025-2026 biennium budget that adds three more officers and a corrections officer.

With stabilized staffing, Padilla has been able fully staff speciality units, including traffic, neighborhood response teams and a new crime reduction unit. That leads to faster response times and proactive patrols, the chief said.

Padilla said the new state law that went into effect in June to allow vehicle pursuits in most situations also has helped reduce crime.

“That serves as huge deterrent,” Padilla said. “All (crimes) that involve a vehicle have come down. That to me is a clear correlation. We are able to pursue and we make more arrests to stop a cycle of crime.”

Several years ago the Legislature changed laws limiting when police could pursue vehicles in an effort to limit unnecessary deaths caused by pursuits. But leaders of law enforcement agencies, including Padilla, lobbied legislators to change the law back to allow most pursuits because crime numbers went up.

Padilla said the use of technology has helped reduce crime as well. Cameras mounted at intersections capture license plate numbers and have helped solve homicides and shootings with stolen car alerts and descriptions of vehicles reportedly used in crimes.

“We really turned the page last year in getting back out there, to get a handle on high crime,” Padilla said.

The chief said about 50 new officers in Kent were trained under the idea that they couldn’t pursue, but now are on board and trained to pursue vehicles.

In Padilla’s report last year to the council when he compared 2023 crime numbers to 2022, the number of homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies and vehicle thefts increased. The number of residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, vehicle prowls and shootings decreased.

Total homicides for 2024

While the report by Padilla tracked homicides by firearm, Councilmember John Boyd asked the chief how many total homicides the city has had this year, including people killed by means other than guns.

“There are two additional, not firearms related,” Padilla said. “Sometimes the initial assessment data change, but we’re looking at 12 for the year so far.”