HOPKINSVILLE, KY. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- The Hopkinsville Police Department recently released a report showing that the rate of violent crimes has decreased drastically in the past four years.
Clayton Sumner, Hopkinsville Police Chief released the following statistics:
Overall crime —- 14% Decrease (2015-2019)
Violent crime —- 42% Decrease (2015-2019)
Police Department diversity —- 18% Increase in women and minority hires (2014-2019)
Use of Force —-Only 0.9% of all arrest HPD made required physical force (2015-2019)
“HPD continues to surpass the state in crime closure rates,” Clayton said. “As Hopkinsville is one of the largest cities in the state, we, unfortunately, may never be completely crime-free. Although this report is meant to reflect our success in the continued effort to decrease crime, I cannot help but to remember those in our community who have lost a loved one to violent crime. For crimes such as murder, it really takes us all working together to somehow try and prevent it from ever happening. Even one person lost to violent crime is too many!”
In his five years at Police Chief, Clayton said he’s had to face many things such as managing and preparing budgets, recruiting and retaining officers, dealing with the grief of having an officer shot and another killed in the line of duty, but his family and the officers he works with keeps him striving to continuously improve HPD.
“(The year )2020 will no doubt present many challenges to our agency and our community. As long as we continue working together and refuse to settle for simply being good, then we can be great and make Hopkinsville even safer for all of our loved ones,” Clayton said.