Crime rates have declined significantly over a ten-year span in southeast Ohio counties
By: Abigail Semple
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Crime rates in several southeast Ohio counties have dropped significantly over the past decade, contrary to public opinion that crime is increasing.
Data collected from the FBI Crime Data Explorer for Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Vinton and Washington counties show violent crimes and property crimes fell drastically between 2014 and 2023, the most recent year for which data is available. Most noteworthy are the high percentage differences from the peak crime years in each of these counties during this period.
Athens County, the most populous in the region, saw a 35.2% decrease from its peak in 2015. Neighboring Washington and Vinton counties reported even steeper declines: Washington County’s crime rate dropped from its peak in 2015 by over 50%, and Vinton County’s crimes were down by almost half from its 2018 peak.
Athens County Sheriff Rodney Smith attributes the decline to a combination of proactive drug enforcement, community-based education and inter-county collaboration. He also noted that while drug-related crimes still dominate, drug trafficking is lower than it has been and violent incidents are often tied to substance use rather than broader trends.
“We work well with the rest of the sheriff’s offices that surround us. … We want to keep fighting that fight and reducing the amount of drugs. And that really is one of the biggest help that we have in our county to reduce crime, violent crime, and it helps everybody that’s involved in that situation,” he explained.
Smith added that when he entered office in 2014 he and his team immediately began their work targeting drug crimes. “We immediately hit the ground running, really trying to focus on the crimes and the drugs and the effects that they have in the communities. We … worked on rehab and trying to get people better.”
Meanwhile, Meigs County, which has been hit hard by the opioid crisis, has experienced a steady decline in crime rates. From its peak in 2014, it dropped by 39% in 2023. Similarly, Hocking County has seen its crime rate fall 55.7% from its peak in 2018.
Criminologist Francis Cullen of the University of Cincinnati noted that this regional drop reflects broader national trends. “Starting in the late 1990s, crime started to fall in the United States, particularly violent crime. The thing that really caused the crime to go way up was the pandemic. And now that the pandemic has subsided, America is turning back to its normal self.”
Cullen noted, however, that there is a public perception that crime is on the increase. He suggests that media coverage and political rhetoric are to blame. News outlets prioritize violent crime stories for their shock value and politicians also amplify crime fears, particularly in their portrayal of immigrants, Cullen said.
“What’s newsworthy is bad news. … So, what most Americans see all the time are stories about violent crime,” he said. “But that image is a false impression. … And so, in reality, most people always think things are getting worse.”
Gary Daniels, legislative director of ACLU of Ohio, noted that while public perception often suggests crime is out of control, official data show a continued decline in crime rates, including serious offenses like homicides and assaults. Like Cullen, he too argues that although data show a drop in crime, public fear and media portrayals contribute to a widespread belief that crime is increasing. This in turn, he said, motivates policymakers to pass punitive laws that may not reflect actual need.
“The data says one thing, but what the public thinks about all of this doesn’t match the data. There’s a disconnect between perception and reality,” he said.
While crime overall is decreasing, the rates vary throughout the state. Daniels noted that crime trends vary by location. For instance, Athens County has relatively low crime, while other parts of Ohio, such as Columbus, show higher rates — largely influenced by population size and density.