PIERRE, SD (KELO.COM) Drug crimes soared by over 12 percent in South Dakota in 2016. That number sticks out like a sore thumb in the State Attorney General's Annual Crime Report.
Drug arrests were the highest they've been in a decade.
"The national drug epidemic continues to impact overall crime in South Dakota," says State Attorney General Marty Jackley. Crimes likely related to drugs, such as theft and burglary, were also up.
Jackley tells KELO.COM that the state is trying to stay ahead of the epidemic with the 'No Meth Ever' campaign in the schools and with the Law Enforcement Task force that tries to stop meth from coming into South Dakota. Also, hundreds more police officers have been hired by communities across the state. Still, government can't do it all.
"families, parents, educators, have a much more significant impact on protecting communities, then sometimes they get credit for," says Jackley.
The drug statistics are bad, but violent crimes were down last year.
"The crime statistics reflect that, overall, South Dakota remains a safe place to live as a result of strong community involvement and law enforcement efforts. Many categories of crime, including murder, rape, and sexual offenses were down in 2016." says Jackley.
South Dakota law enforcement agencies reported a total of 42,200 arrests involving 75,778 offenses in 2016. Click the attached PDF file for the entire report