Questions with the Candidate – Part 3

QUESTION: “What are your thoughts when you look through the statistics on crime in Hancock County?”

ANSWER: “I love digging into statistics, and those involving criminal activity is no different. Analyzing Statistics helps us to learn where we may have ‘blindspots’ or issues, and it could be helpful in deciding where to focus our efforts and training. However, my first real thought is that ‘I would like to see accurate statistics in which to measure crime in Hancock County’, because the statistics that I’ve been digging through are somewhat problematic, and contain some errors that frankly trouble me (and should trouble you). And I don’t say that to scare anyone, but to point out that there are some REAL issues in Transparency and Communications when it comes to crime statistics – even from the State level.

Stay with me here…

The most seemingly accurate place for someone to find statistics on Crime for Hancock County is a publication entitled “Crime in Kentucky”. This Report is published annually by the Kentucky State Police Commissioner and the Governor of Kentucky, and it breaks down information by county and agency reporting. The most recent publication was for the year of 2024, which can be found here: https://wp.kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2024-CIK-Final-with-Letters.pdf

If you look on page 276 you’ll find out ‘how’ this data is compiled. The statistics come from reports that each law enforcement entity submits through either the KyOPS Software (which EVERY agency except four use), or from a private reporting software (which the remaining four agencies use). And at first glance, this information provides some interesting trends about the State as a whole. For instance, in 2024, you’ll see most crime rates ‘declining’ throughout the state, except for a few, like: Arson (up 16.37%), Gambling (up 1400%), Prostitution (up 12.66%), Consensual Sex Offenses (up 179%), and a few other small increases in criminal offenses (Counterfeit/Forgery, Blackmail/Extortion). When you compare year-after-year (with multiple reports open at once), you’ll find overall arrests/offenses to be on an upward swing over the past few years – with the exception being this most recent reporting year (which was down by 520 arrests).

When you first look at this report, you’ll notice in the index that there are multiple ways in which the crime statistics are reported. The first section contains “Arrests by County”…and those numbers are broken down by the Agency/Department submitting the information into KyOPS (Hancock is on Page 88-89 with 5 Agencies reporting). Other sections break the arrests/offenses down by demographics and other identifiers (Age, Gender, Race, Drug Arrests, DUI Arrests, etc.). Also note that there are Group-A and Group-B offenses… with Group-A being the more severe crimes, and Group-B being the crimes that are less severe (see pg. 287 for the list of each group).

But if you’re someone who enjoys statistics, and you start digging deep into the data, you’ll quickly find out that there are several problems within this report…. In other words: “The math doesn’t math”….and when the reports contain a lot of errors, it makes me question the validity and the integrity of the data as a whole. And this isn’t a conspiracy theory…this is real issues with Reporting that YOU can see.

So for an example of what I’m talking about concerning ‘questionable reporting’ – if you turn to page 88 and 89, and if you add up the Total Offenses of “Group A”, (across all 5 agencies reporting) you’ll get a total of 127. But on page 241 (which reports the Total Offenses broken down into age groups), the total is 129….and while this is only a difference of two, it’s still off. Then when you dig a little deeper, you start seeing more errors. Take a look specifically at “Assault” offenses on page 88 and 89 and add up the number that each five agencies report… you’ll get a total of 29 Assaults recorded. However, on page 241, the total “Assault” offenses reported by all agencies are 42. The Math is not Mathin’.

If you look specifically at “Drug/Narcotic” offenses on page 88 and 89, you’ll see that they total up to 30 across every agency reporting. However, on page 241, the total “Drug/Narcotic” offenses reported by all agencies are 33, and on page 274 (Drug Arrests By County), they report 40 Arrests for Hancock County. Tell me….why are all of these numbers different if they’re pulling from the same reporting database and the same reports?

Now, if you want a really good laugh, try to decipher the data on page 277, ESPECIALLY where it’s reported that out of the 2,456 TOTAL assaults on Law Enforcement officers in 2024, only 3,983 of those 2,456 assaults were committed on officers riding alone. (Don’t you see something wrong there?)

The sad part is this: THIS REPORT is supposed to be the most reliable data available concerning crime in the State of Kentucky, because the data is pulled from the very reporting database that our Deputies input arrest and offense information (KyOPS). But when reporting errors are found, the data (report) as a whole simply cannot be trusted. Furthermore, if THIS information is not trustworthy, then we can rightly assume the other non-governmental reports found throughout the internet cannot be trusted either, as who knows where their source of information comes from.

Another issues is this: Calls and Incidents that don’t get placed into KyOPS is simply not recorded… so an accurate number of ‘Law Enforcement Responses’ and ‘incidents’ is thereby not available.

So…what can we do about this issue with statistics? Well, this is where I believe Hancock County needs to begin keeping it’s own database of information and publishing our own statistics. Not only should this be created, but we should provide access to the statistics from that database (without personal information included) to the general public in a clear and transparent manor – preferably in a manor that updates in real-time. We could easily accomplish this through a revision to the Sheriff Department’s Website, and provide links through social media and other means.

Accurate statistics and transparent reporting will help citizens of Hancock County (as well as those outside of the county who may be looking to relocate) in measuring the overall health of the county in terms of crime, as well as prove the effectiveness of the agency tasked with protecting those living and visiting this wonderful County. A system in place like this would provide a means of accountability to those in whom we serve, and could be a tool to let the citizens know just how hard our Sheriff’s Department works on their behalf.”