17 January 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Even though Topeka broke the record for the number of homicides committed in 2023, overall crime was down.
The Topeka Police Department (TPD) has released its 2023 year-end crime report. According to TPD, there were 36 recorded homicides from 35 incidents in the year. This is 17 more than the number of homicides reported in 2022. Of the incidents, 70% were committed with a firearm. To date, TPD has solved 86% of the incidents.
The number of shootings in the Capital City also increased in 2023. There were 84 incidents where a shooting occurred; this is an increase of 26 from 2022. TPD recorded 93 victims related to shooting incidents, an increase of 31 from the year before.
TPD notes that “overall crime” within the city saw a decrease of 87 cases. Police recorded 5,497 crimes in 2022 and 5,410 crimes in 2023 The number of violent crimes between 2022 and 2023 remained the same at 1,012. Property crime in 2023 was down by 87 counts from the year prior, TPD recorded 4,485 property-related crimes in 2022 and 4,398 property-related crimes in 2023.
In 2023, Topeka Police made 5,277 arrests and had more than 88,000 service calls. TPD seized more than 500 firearms, this is 88 firearms less than were taken off the streets in 2022.
The Police Support Unit (PSU) Investigations counted 14 administration investigations and 17 citizen complaints.
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