RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — The Rapid City Police Department is seeing its lowest number of violent crimes in the past 5 years.
The police department has been making changes with the help of the data collected over the years.
“Over the last few years our community has grown and it’s our job to make sure that we’re keeping up with that growth. But also having footholds in different areas of town to make sure that we can quickly respond,” RCPD Chief of Police Don Hedrick said.
The department has also seen success from their Westside Precinct, the growth of neighborhood watch groups, and joint work with other agencies.
2020 saw a spike in major crime across the nation and here in Rapid City, there’s been a steady decline over the past five years, with 2024 having 26% less violent crime than in 2020.
Locations such as Star Village saw a lot of gunshot calls last year, which is something the Department has been shifting their focus towards.
“Making that a top priority for our department and being more present and visible and available for folks. It’s a deterrent factor, when you know that the police are up in the neighborhood regularly, folks are less apt to commit crimes,” Hedrick said.
The RCPD is also looking for new ways to adapt to crime in the city.
“We have data analysis that is occurring regularly to make sure that we’re catching the uptick in certain areas or certain times or certain days and we’re adjusting our resources. I think that’s something special about our police department,” Hedrick said.
The new Saturation Patrols started this month are making an impact, with 248 additional traffic stops, as well as 35 illegally possessed firearms removed from the street.
The RCPD also gave credit to the local community for helping them with investigations through the use of security cameras and calls of service.
