The numbers suggest that crime rates are steady in Leelanau County, according to an annual report published by the county sheriff’s office last month.
The total number of index crimes in the county went down last year compared to 2022, from 174 to 147. Index crimes are considered by the FBI to be the most serious kind of incidents, and include murder, criminal sexual conduct, robbery, assault, breaking and entering, larceny, unlawfully driving away in an automobile, and arson.
But 2022 also saw the most index crimes in the county since 2013, and last year’s total index crimes are equal to the mean for the last 10 years rounded to the nearest whole number, showing that it was a thoroughly average year in terms of crime. According to the 2023 annual report, the lowest number of index crimes in one year in the county in the last 10 years was 115 in 2019.
