Lexington County falls in line with the state in many statistical areas when it comes to crime, though it stands apart in a few others.

That’s the local takeaway following the state Law Enforcement Division’s recent release of its annual crime statistics book, updating the public with numbers for 2022.

The county saw 8,656 total arrests last year, a .1% increase from the year before, while the state as a whole saw a .8% increase, landing at 166,498 arrests.

One point of differentiation was aggravated assault which saw a 31% increase in the county, while the state didn’t see any change. Aggravated assault has been one of the less stable statistics for the county in recent years, routinely increasing one year and decreasing the next.

Arson arrests increased 14.3% in the county compared to a 4% decrease statewide. Since 2017, the county has routinely had between seven and nine arson arrests, with 2020 being an outlier with only three arrests.

Other notable increases include statutory rape, which saw a 100% increase (from zero arrests to one), while the state experienced a 23% decrease. SLED reports did not include specific arrest numbers for statutory rape until 2020, and since then there have been two arrests in the county, including the one that occurred last year.

The county saw a 20% decrease in the number of arrests where someone contributed to the delinquency of a minor, while the state saw a 10.1% increase. The county’s rate had been steadily declining since 2017 until 2021, which saw a spike of 81.8%.

The number of embezzlement arrests decreased 33.3%, while the state saw a 21.4% increase. 

Since 2017, the county has seen a steady decrease in embezzlement arrests apart from a 33.3% spike from the previous year in 2021.

The county saw a 30.8% decrease in intimidation arrests, while the state saw no change. 2022 had the lowest number of arrests for intimidation in the county since 2017 at 18, with the preceding five years seeing totals of 24, 24, 34, 21 and 26.

Intimidation is defined as unlawfully placing another person in reasonable fear of harm through threatening words or other conduct without displaying a dangerous weapon or subjecting the victim to an actual physical attack.

The county saw a 20% decrease in sexual exposure arrests, while the state saw a 9.7% increase. The county saw a decline in sexual exposure arrests between 2017 and 2019, though it increased in 2020 and 2021.

The county saw a 54.1% decrease in obscene or harassing telephone call arrests while the state saw a 21.8% increase. The number has routinely changed in the past few years for Lexington County.

The county saw an 11% decrease in trespassing arrests, while the state saw a 9.2% increase. The county has been on a steady decline for trespassing arrests since 2020.

The county saw a 100% increase in animal cruelty, with one arrest reported for 2022. The state saw a 51% increase in animal cruelty arrests, with 225 cases in 2022 compared to the 149 in 2021.

While this percentage may seem jarring, the county statistic remains on trend with its statistics for the last five years with only 2017 and 2021 having no animal cruelty arrests. The highest year since 2017 for animal cruelty in the county was 2020, with three arrests.

The county saw a 36.4% increase in drunkenness, increasing to 15 cases in 2022 from the 11 in 2021. The state saw a 13.3% increase in drunkenness. This is the first year since 2017 in which the county has had an increase of arrests from drunkenness.

The county saw a 72.7% increase in family offenses (nonviolent) from 2021 to 2022, with 38 cases compared to the previous year’s 22. The state's increase was much smaller at 1.7%

This year's increase was the largest the county has seen in the last five years, with such arrests having been on a decline since 2018.

The county saw a 100% increase in human trafficking from 2021 to 2022, with one case reported for 2022. The state saw a 300% increase in human trafficking arrests, going from two to eight.

There were no arrests for human trafficking in the county in 2020 and 2021, while there were two arrests in 2017 and one each in 2018 and 2019.

The county saw a 38.5% increase in pornography/obscene material arrests, while the state saw a 0.6% increase. Since 2019, the county has seen a steady increase in such arrests.

The county saw a 16.4% increase in resisting arrest, while the state saw a 7% increase.

The county had a 31.4% decrease in stolen property arrests from 2021 to 2022, with the state seeing a 16% decrease. 2022 had the lowest number of such arrests for the county since 2017 at 96. The previous five years, the county saw totals of 129, 139, 141, 169 and 140.

The county saw a 22.2% decrease in forcible fondling arrests from 2021 to 2022, while the state saw a 12% decrease. The county has seen a steady decrease in fondling arrests since 2020, getting down to single-digit arrest numbers in 2021 and continuing that into 2022.

The county saw a 30% decrease in murder and non-negligent manslaughter arrests from 2021 to 2022, with 14 arrests, while the state saw a 21.1% decrease. The previous five years saw totals of 21, 14, 11, 11 and 20 such arrests in the county.

The county saw a 100% decrease in non-negligent manslaughter arrests from 2021 to 2022, while the state saw a 28.6% decrease. The county has only had two non-negligent manslaughter arrests since 2017.

The county saw a 38.3% decrease in robbery arrests from 2021 to 2022, while the state saw a 21% decrease. Robbery arrests in the county have been declining since 2020 in the county, with 2022 seeing the lowest number in the past five years at 37.

Other arrest categories where the county saw decreases included counterfeit/forgery, bribery, destruction/damage/vandalism to property, fraud and sexual battery.