Violent crimes in St. Charles County have decreased three years in a row, according to Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar. Homicide cases have decreased in St. Charles County over the past three years. In 2019, there were 11 homicides reported in St. Charles County. In 2020, there were 10 homicides reported in the county. In 2021, the number of murders dropped to eight.
This is a significant contrast to the increasing national murder rate. In 2021, there were 6% more murders in the United States than in 2020. This is still a troubling statistic, but it is much lower than the increase in murders that occurred in 2020, which was a year-over-year record.
The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics government reports that the violent crime rate has been steady for the last decade. However, the Bureau’s National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) found that violent crime reported to police decreased by 2 percent between 2019 and 2020, while the violent crime rate increased marginally in 2020.
Although the violent crime rate in St. Charles’ crime rate is higher than the average for all of America’s communities, it is considerably lower than in nearby St. Louis. In fact, the chances of a citizen in St. Charles experiencing a violent crime are less than the chances of a citizen in St. Louis.
In an interview with Fox 2 Now, Lohmar attributes the decrease in violent crimes to the strong cooperation between his St. Charles prosecutor’s office and law enforcement.
“When people are held on violent crimes, and they’re held on a high bond, they don’t go home,” said Lohmar. Lohmar says that St. Charles is in a better position than its neighbors in St. Louis City and St. Louis County regarding violent crime.
Lohmar credits this to a good working relationship between the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement. He also credits the citizens of St. Charles. Many are armed, and Lohmar says this deters crime. When a violent crime does happen, Lohmar says that almost all the criminals end up in the state penitentiary.
Lohmar says he’s working to create a new warning to criminals. If criminals know they are likely to be caught, persecuted, and imprisoned, they will stay away from St. Charles County.
Lohmar’s strategies appear to be working. There have been fewer homicide cases reported in St. Charles County each year for the past three years. In 2019, 11 murders were committed in the county. This number dropped to 10 in 2020 and 8 by 2021.