A Tyler police car in Tyler, Texas, on Thursday, July 27, 2017. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Local law enforcement officials recently said Smith County and Tyler continue to be safe areas for residents as state data showed single-digit percentage increases in overall crime.

Numbers from the annual Texas Department of Public Safety crime report released this past week showed a 4.5% increase from 2019 to 2020 in crime for the city of Tyler and a 2.2% increase for the Smith County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction.

The report categories include murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. Murder data was the most notable increase for both jurisdictions.

For Tyler police, the report shows an increase to six murders in 2020 from zero the previous year. The sheriff’s office also saw murder cases rise — from seven in 2019 to 11 this past year, according to the report.

Tyler Police Department Chief Jimmy Toler said he’s always concerned when a homicide occurs or someone is harmed during a crime. In addition to the DPS report, Toler said the department references multiyear data, which showed an average homicide rate of six using numbers from 2016 to 2020.

Past city of Tyler homicide numbers include five in 2016, 11 in 2017 and nine in 2018.

“When you look at the increase of six homicides from 2019 to 2020, it is necessary to take a close look at multiyear trends,” Toler said. “As we move forward, we hope and pray for no one in our community or any community to be harmed.”

Sgt. Larry Christian, Smith County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, said out of all crime categories, murders are the most unpredictable. He added while one murder is too many, an increase of four in a year’s time is significant only in terms of numbers, and not a concern for certain areas.

Christian also emphasized the need to look at criminal patterns.

“The murders that occurred in Smith County were all unrelated and do not show a pattern of violence in any specified area,” he said.

Toler emphasized that Tyler remains a safe community for residents and visitors.

“I am proud of the work of officers and staff at the police department to keep our community safe,” Toler said.

Christian said the 2.2% crime rate increase is nominal in size, or small, noting COVID-19 presented many challenges for law enforcement in 2020.

“Smith County is and will continue to be a very safe area to live,” he said. “Across the state counties with a population over 100,000 saw an average increase in crime rates of 11.3%. That places our county well below that number.”

For Tyler police, robbery data increased from 58 to 69, assault numbers went from 271 to 344 and burglary rose from 762 to 799.

Toler said multiyear data trends are used to determine needs and appropriate responses to crime rate levels. Officers are deployed and strategies are used to detect and suppress criminal activity.

“In addition to the reported crimes, the Tyler Police Department utilizes monthly crime analysis heat maps to identify areas for additional resources,” he said, adding a priority response team is sent out to certain areas to concentrate on identified problems.

Multiyear Tyler police data showed between 2016 to 2020 an average of 91 robberies, 304 assaults and 491 burglaries.

Tyler and Smith County saw decreases in reports of rape from 2019 to 2020. Rape was down from 58 to 46 in the county, and from 71 to 53 in the city of Tyler.

Christian said it’s difficult to pinpoint a reason for a decrease in sexual assault cases as those crimes are typically one of the most underreported nationwide.

Toler noted it can be challenging to understand why someone chooses to report or not report a sexual assault. He said the numbers from 2016 and 2017 of 79 reports each are consistent with 2020’s numbers.

“We want to encourage anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault or sexual abuse to report it to the police department,” Toler said.

In Tyler, larceny (the theft of personal property) decreased from 2,597 to 2,562 and auto theft went from 170 to 210.

Toler said the DPS annual crime report is a valuable resource for statewide criminal data and helps with the Tyler police’s ongoing data to identify trends and respond.

He said the department has seen a decrease in crimes from January through August this year despite the 2020 increase.

“The utilization of priority zones for offices and the deployment of the priority response team has had a significant impact on our community,” Toler said.

Christian said the main crimes showing an increase in Smith County were murder, robbery and assault, and these rises weren’t excessive and don’t represent any significant increase in violent crime.

Data regarding the sheriff’s office showed robberies rose from 18 to 22 and assault went from 252 to 287.

Christian noted property crimes saw a decrease within the year, including burglaries (412 to 381) and auto theft (241 to 219). Larceny in Smith County rose from 800 to 862.

“Of all crime categories, property crimes are affected most by proactive patrol enforcement and an aggressive investigations unit,” Christian said.