Report paints a bleak picture of crime in Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A serious crime took place every two minutes and 38 seconds in 2011, according to a new report issued by the Kentucky State Police.

The agency's annual "Crime in Kentucky" report released this month shows total of 297,738 arrests were made in 2011 in Kentucky. Of those, 25,841 were DUI arrests, while 38,020 arrests were for drug violations.

State Police Lt. Greg Crockett told The Daily News because of a change in how the state compiled the numbers means the 2011 report cannot be compared to previous years. Essentially, the "Crime in Kentucky 2011" report must stand alone for a year until the 2012 report comes out next summer.

A change in the crime reporting matrix requested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation means the 2011 report is not comparable to the previous 41 versions of the report, most notably the 2010 crime numbers, which is the traditional comparison.

The older reports included eight crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. A change in FBI guidelines has created 22 crime categories and also changed what constitutes each reportable crime.

The new format will provide a more definitive snapshot of community crimes, Crockett said.

According to the statewide 2011 report:

• 198,889 serious crimes were reported.
• Firearms were used in 55 percent of all homicides.

Bowling Green Police spokesman Officer Ronnie Ward said there was a serious crime reported nearly every three hours in the city.

There were 167 more crimes categorized as serious reported in Bowling Green last year than in 2010, Ward said.

In Bowling Green, 3,018 serious offenses were reported in 2011, compared to 2,851 in 2010, Ward said.