Looking Beyond the Headlines: What Parsons' 2025 Crime Numbers Really Tell Us
By Chief Robert Spinks, Parsons Police Department

The Parsons Police Department has released its 2025 Annual Report, and I am pleased to report that our community experienced a meaningful reduction in reported crime during 2025. While no police chief is ever satisfied until every resident is safe, these numbers represent progress that belongs to our entire community-not just the Police Department.

According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's 2025 Crime Index, Parsons recorded 362 total FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Index offenses in 2025. That includes 96 violent crimes and 266 property crimes, representing an overall decline from 2024. 899 arrests were made last year, unfortunately we had a fair share of repeat offenders.

The reduction in crime is encouraging, but it is also important to understand what these numbers actually mean-and just as importantly, what they do not mean. What they mean is that violent crime in our town is driven by domestic violence and property crime is driven by theft. Both have a connection to drug use and abuse. There is not street crime, home invasions nor assaults by strangers.

Crime Prevention Is a Community Responsibility
The men and women of the Parsons Police Department work hard every day to prevent crime, investigate offenses, and hold offenders accountable. But policing alone has never been the sole answer to crime.

Communities become safer when residents:

• Report suspicious activity promptly.
• Lock vehicles and secure homes.
• Watch out for neighbors.
• Support youth and families.
• Volunteer in community organizations.
• Cooperate with investigations.
• Refuse to tolerate criminal behavior.

Our long-standing message remains true:

See It! Hear It! Report It!

Every phone call, every witness statement, every neighborhood conversation helps build a safer Parsons. Crime prevention is not simply a police function-it is a community partnership.

Actual Crime Counts Tell the Story
One of the questions I receive every year concerns crime rankings and crime rates.

Many websites publish "per capita crime rates" that divide crime by population and then compare communities of dramatically different sizes. While those calculations may have value when comparing large metropolitan areas, they become increasingly unreliable when applied to smaller communities.

For communities with populations around 10,000 residents or less, a relatively small change in the number of reported crimes-or even a slight change in population estimates-can create dramatic swings in the calculated crime rate. Those swings often exaggerate changes that are not occurring in reality.

For example, if a community's population estimate changes by only a few hundred residents while reported crimes remain nearly identical, its "crime rate" can appear to increase or decrease significantly even though the actual public safety environment has changed very little.

That is why I have consistently encouraged residents to focus first on the actual number of reported crimes rather than relying solely on per-capita rankings.

Actual reported offenses are objective. They represent crimes investigated and submitted through the Kansas Incident-Based Reporting System to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI). They are the most direct measure of what law enforcement agencies are actually responding to in their communities.

How Parsons Compares
The accompanying 2025 graphic illustrates how Parsons compares with other Kansas cities using actual reported UCR Index offenses.

Among Kansas law enforcement agencies reporting crime data in 2025:

• Parsons ranked 22nd in total reported UCR Index crimes.
• Parsons ranked 18th in violent crime.
• Parsons ranked 22nd in property crime.

Those rankings simply reflect the number of reported offenses submitted by Kansas law enforcement agencies. They provide a more straightforward comparison than percentage-based calculations that can fluctuate widely in smaller communities.

Every Crime Prevented Matters
The decrease in crime did not happen because of one initiative or one police operation.

It reflects countless contributions from across Parsons:

• Citizens who reported suspicious behavior.
• Neighborhoods looking out for one another.
• Businesses investing in security.
• School officials working with students and families.
• Community organizations supporting at-risk youth.
• Prosecutors, judges, probation officers, and victim advocates.
• Dedicated police officers and civilian employees serving every day.
• Public safety is strongest when everyone accepts some responsibility for the well-being of our community.

We Will Not Become Complacent
While we celebrate progress, we recognize that 362 victims are still too many. Every burglary affects someone's sense of security. Every theft impacts a family's finances. Every violent crime changes lives forever.

The goal is never simply improving rankings. The goal is reducing victimization. The Parsons Police Department will continue emphasizing proactive patrol, criminal investigations, community engagement, traffic safety, technology, officer training, and partnerships with residents to continue moving in the right direction.

Thank You, Parsons
I want to sincerely thank our residents for the trust you place in the Parsons Police Department. Your willingness to report crime, provide information, participate in community programs, and work alongside our officers makes a measurable difference.

Crime prevention truly is a team effort. Together, we will continue building a community where families feel safe, businesses can thrive, and neighbors look after one another. Because the safest communities aren't created by police departments alone-they are built by citizens and police working together.

Look for the Good in Parsons: A Blueprint for Safer Communities
Series Conclusion: A Unified Strategy for Parsons
By Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks, MA, MS

Over the course of this series, we have explored an important truth about modern policing: public safety is about far more than responding to crime. It is about building the kind of community where crime is less likely to occur in the first place.

That is the heart of "Look for the Good in Parsons."

It is more than a public awareness campaign. It is a philosophy of leadership, community partnership, and shared responsibility. It recognizes that the safest communities are not simply those with effective police departments, but those where citizens, businesses, schools, civic organizations, and local government work together to build a community people are proud to call home.

Throughout this series, we have discussed seven principles that form the foundation of that philosophy:

• Vision reminds us that successful communities anticipate challenges instead of merely reacting to them.
• People-Focused Policing emphasizes that every interaction is an opportunity to build trust and strengthen relationships.
• Community Integrity demonstrates that transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership are the infrastructure upon which public confidence is built.
• Community Resilience shows us that connected neighborhoods recover more quickly from adversity and are better equipped to prevent crime.
• Sense of Community reinforces that people who know, support, and care for one another naturally create safer neighborhoods.
• Economic Opportunity reminds us that prosperity and public safety go hand in hand.
• Citizen Engagement recognizes that every resident has a role in helping shape the future of Parsons.

Together, these principles represent a unified strategy for crime prevention-one that aligns with the evolving philosophies promoted by organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police2Peace, Future Policing Institute, and FBI-LEEDA. These organizations increasingly recognize that the future of policing depends not only on enforcement, but also on leadership, collaboration, innovation, and community partnerships.

Perhaps nowhere is that philosophy more evident than in the relationship between economic development and public safety.

For many years, economic development and policing were viewed as separate responsibilities. Today, we know they are closely connected.

Communities that attract new employers, encourage entrepreneurship, revitalize commercial districts, and invest in infrastructure create opportunities that reduce many of the conditions associated with crime. Businesses bring jobs. Jobs provide financial stability. Stable employment strengthens families. Strong families contribute to stable neighborhoods. Stable neighborhoods foster pride, investment, and engagement.

Growth creates momentum.

New businesses generate tax revenue that allows cities to improve streets, utilities, parks, public safety, and other essential services. Those improvements make communities more attractive to employers, developers, and families looking for a place to invest their future. As housing expands, neighborhoods grow stronger. As quality of life improves, communities become destinations rather than places people leave behind.

This is not simply an economic cycle-it is a public safety strategy.

Communities experiencing healthy, responsible growth often benefit from increased natural surveillance, improved property maintenance, stronger civic engagement, and greater opportunities for young people. Each of those factors contributes to reducing crime opportunities while increasing community resilience.

Simply put, growth supports public safety, and public safety encourages growth.

That does not mean growth comes without thoughtful planning. Responsible development requires careful consideration of infrastructure, environmental stewardship, public safety resources, and community priorities. But communities that refuse to pursue opportunity risk stagnation, declining investment, and fewer resources to support the very services residents expect and deserve.

As Police Chief, my responsibility extends beyond responding to emergencies. It includes helping create the conditions where people feel safe enough to raise families, start businesses, invest in neighborhoods, and become active participants in community life. Public safety should never be viewed as a barrier to progress-it should be a catalyst for it.

That is why I believe "Look for the Good in Parsons" is ultimately about more than policing. It is about believing in our community. It is about recognizing the strengths that already exist while embracing the opportunities that lie ahead. It is about choosing optimism over cynicism, collaboration over division, and long-term solutions over short-term reactions.

Every citizen has a role to play. Every business contributes to our community's success. Every neighborhood matters. Every act of kindness, volunteerism, mentorship, investment, and civic engagement strengthens the foundation upon which a safer Parsons is built.

The future of Parsons will not be determined by one organization or one elected body. It will be shaped by thousands of individual decisions made every day by people who choose to invest in this community and in one another.

When we support local businesses, mentor young people, volunteer in our neighborhoods, participate in civic life, report suspicious activity, welcome responsible investment, and work together to solve problems, we are doing far more than improving public safety-we are strengthening the future of Parsons itself.

I have had the privilege of serving in law enforcement for many years and in several communities. One lesson has remained constant throughout my career: the strongest communities are not those without challenges. They are the ones that face those challenges together, with confidence, integrity, and a shared commitment to making tomorrow better than today.

That is the Parsons I see.

That is the Parsons I believe in.

And that is why I continue to ask our community to look for the good in Parsons.

Because when we recognize our strengths, invest in our future, support responsible growth, and work together with a shared purpose, we accomplish something greater than reducing crime.

We build a community where families choose to stay, businesses choose to invest, young people choose to build their futures, and neighbors choose to look out for one another.

A safer Parsons.
A stronger Parsons.
A growing Parsons.

And together, that is exactly the future we can create.