The Kirksville Police Department says Polls have shown that Americans believe crime is on the rise nationwide. They say local data shows that overall crime in Kirksville is down. The Kirksville Police Department compiles crime totals each year. Figures for the last seven years were recently reported to the City Council to see trends. Crimes of violence stayed level, with a downward trend in recent years. The information shows the majority of local violent crimes are from and against people who know each other, not random acts of violence. Drug crimes remained level for the last seven years, with a dip in 2023. Erno, the City’s K-9 officer, has been crucial in drug enforcement. KPD deployed Erno 66 times between March and December of 2023, with 55 related to traffic stops. Those deployments resulted in 37 arrests, two firearm seizures and the recovery of drugs and currency. Those would not have been possible without the K-9. The biggest decline is with property crimes, which dropped 27 percent from 2022 to 2023. And traffic collisions, both injury and non-injury collisions, were significantly reduced for 2022 and 2023. This could be attributed to increased officer presence and traffic stops for moving violations. Though traffic stops significantly increased, 50 percent fewer citations were issued per traffic stop, indicating the stops are mostly educational and positive interactions between the driver and law enforcement. Additional figures to note include an upward trend in calls for service over the last three years, with 26,632 in 2023. Also, KPD hit an all-time high of arrests with 942.