LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In a highly touted report on serious crime in Kentucky released last week, one number stood out: a 33% drop in reported homicides by law enforcement agencies across the state in 2022.
Those offenses declined to 431, from 647 the year before, giving that category the steepest year-over-year plunge among all violent crimes in the state.
However, the data is not accurate — and it's unclear if there are more discrepancies in the Kentucky State Police (KSP) report, which is based on information submitted by police departments using the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System.
Kentucky State Police (KSP) released its annual report Wednesday showing a 10% drop in reports of "serious, Category A" crimes statewide in 2022 and a 6.2% drop in arrests of those crimes.
Louisville statistics included in the report are vastly different than similar figures provided by the city's police department this week. The state report lists 64 homicides submitted by LMPD; the department says there were 164 last year.
Adding 100 more homicides would bring the statewide total to 531, or a nearly 18% decline from the prior year. That still would amount to the highest single-year drop since at least 2012, when those offenses fell by about 12%, according to a WDRB News review of online state police data.
The discrepancy, which has yet to be addressed in the report on the KSP website, could skew how researchers view homicide trends in Louisville and Kentucky. But, since those are a small proportion of overall offenses, it wouldn't change the statewide drop in serious crimes that also include things like robbery, sex offenses, fraud and vehicle theft.
Taken together, offenses reported in those 23 categories dropped by 9.21% last year. Adding 100 more homicides from LMPD to the report would result in a 9.17% decline across Kentucky.
But the 33% drop in homicides — mentioned but not discussed in detail by Gov. Andy Beshear and his police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., during a July 19 news conference — would change dramatically if the Louisville data were added.
Beshear was asked about Louisville's statistics but did not directly address them, saying: "So I haven't seen the Louisville-specific information, but it is in the report broken out — I believe each county and each region."
LMPD said in a statement Monday that three different units "reviewed and double checked our numbers, and we believe the homicide data that we provided to the Commonwealth is accurate. We are in consultation with Kentucky State Police and the Kentucky Justice Cabinet to figure out why there is a discrepancy between our numbers."
After this story was published, KSP spokesman Cpt. Paul Blanton said his agency is reviewing what was submitted, but that it relies on local police to provide accurate information.Â
"KSP triple-checked the numbers that were provided by LMPD," Blanton said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "The 64 number is what LMPD reported to KSP by the report deadline."
Morgan Hall, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which has oversight of the state police agency, did not respond to a question posed last Thursday about what steps state officials took to ensure the accuracy of the numbers.
Hall also has not responded to questions emailed Tuesday morning, including whether there is any indication that any other data compiled in the report are not accurate or have discrepancies.
The discrepancy in reported homicides by LMPD was greater in 2022 than in previous years. LMPD data show 174 homicides in 2021, compared with 189 in the state report that same year. In 2020, for instance, there were 172 homicides included in the state report and 173 provided by LMPD.
This story may be updated.
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