TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Police Department released its annual crime report Thursday looking back at the year 2020.
There were 57 homicides that TPD recorded last year, whereas in 2019 there were 35. That's an increase of 62%.
The year 2020 brought the highest number of homicides in 39 years, according to the Toledo Police Department's 50-year trend chart. The last time there were more homicides was in 1980, when 60 homicides were recorded.
Here's a look at recent trends when it comes to other crimes in the city:
- Rape:
- 2019 - 202
- 2020 - 223
- An increase of 10%.
- Robbery:
- 2019 - 657
- 2020 - 564
- A decrease of 14%.
- Aggravated assault:
- 2019 - 1,728
- 2020 - 2,221
- An increase of 28%.
- Burglary:
- 2019 - 2,471
- 2020 - 1,886
- A decrease of 23%.
- Auto thefts:
- 2019 - 876
- 2020 - 1,039
- An increase of 18%.
Taking a look at the total incidents Toledo police responded to in 2020, it's just over 200,0000, which is well below the past five years. The most incidents were in 2016 when there were over 270,000.
As far as personnel strength, in 2020, the department had 672 personnel, including command, patrolmen and women, and civilians. Only one year in the past ten years did TPD have a smaller force, but as far as officers on the street, the department looks around average. The average number of patrolmen and women over the past ten years was 484, so TPD was above average last year.
To help fight gun violence in Toledo, the department launched the gunshot-audio detection program called "ShotSpotter" which detects the sound of gunfire and then sends an alert to police.
According to TPD's report, the technology led to 81 NIBIN leads in 2020. NIBIN is a national database of ballistic evidence that aids in solving and preventing violent crimes involving firearms.
The technology also led to 67 arrests, 48 guns recovered and 35 arrests with no calls made to 911.