Columbus police release report on crime rate for most serious offenses. What to know
Part I crime in Columbus in 2025 was down in every category except rape when compared to 2024, according to a Columbus Police Department report presented to Columbus Council on Feb. 10.
According to the report:
- Murder was down 22.86% (from 35 in 2024 to 27 in 2025).
- Robbery was down 20.12% (from 164 in 2024 to 131 in 2025).
- Aggravated assault was down 10.16% (from 492 in 2024 to 442 in 2025).
- Burglary was down 24.96% (from 633 in 2024 to 475 in 2025).
- Larceny was down 3% (from 5,159 in 2024 to 5,004 in 2025).
- Auto theft was down 5.35% (from 561 in 2024 to 531 in 2025).
Part I crimes are the most serious categories of offenses in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
Roderick Graham, deputy chief of the CPD Bureau of Administrative Services, told the Ledger-Enquirer the department attributes the lowering of most Part I crimes to operational crime reduction details that target hot spots where CPD readily sees crime occurring.
Graham said CPD also looks at trends in crime, including factors such as the season.
“Season has a lot to do with it,” he said. “Auto thefts is typically high in the winter. We know that. So, what we do then is we start targeting those locations before crimes start happening.”
Graham attributed the lower number of murders in the city to CPD seizing firearms from people who don’t need to possess firearms and the visibility of officers due to the numbers the department now has.
CPD filled all its patrol officer vacancies in 2024, according to a presentation at the Oct. 8, 2024, Columbus Council meeting. Graham told the L-E then that CPD was up to 369 officers and had a waiting list for new officers. The department had rebounded strongly since May 2023, when it was down to 295 officers.
Rape is the only Part I crime that increased in Columbus, up 34.38% (from 32 in 2024 to 43 in 2025).
“It is hard for any police agency to police rape,” Graham said.
Graham said a majority of rapes occur beyond the vision of police.
“The only thing we can do, from a law enforcement agency, is to continue to put out advisories about individuals being careful as to who they meet online,” he said.
Clearance rates increase
Another key takeaway from the report is the clearance rate for Part I cases. Of the 1,659 Part I cases assigned to CPD’s investigative services, the department cleared 849 cases for an 51% clearance rate.
A cleared case is a case that led to an arrest or evidence indicates the case has reached finality, according to CPD.
CPD said FBI data shows the average clearance rate is 17.4% for Part I crimes in an area with a population of 100,000-249,999 people.
Overall, CPD Investigative Services had 2,336 cases assigned in 2025 and cleared 1,995 cases for an 85% clearance rate.
In 2024, they worked 2,109 cases with a 70% closure rate. Graham also attributed this higher closure rate to higher numbers of officers in the department.
“The more officers that we have, then that’s gonna equal, more than likely, less crimes that you have,” he said.
Graham said crime being reduced on the street means less cases assigned to detectives, allowing them to focus on the cases they have received.
The department now has more detectives, and they are no longer critically short as they once were, he said.
Graham said CPD’s Bureau of Investigative Services has increased the number of detectives by about 50 people.