Attorney General releases Crime in South Dakota 2021 report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 28, 2022
CONTACT: Stewart Huntington, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – The Office of the Attorney General today released the Crime in South Dakota 2021 report. This report is compiled annually by the Attorney General’s Criminal Statistical Analysis Center (SAC). Despite technical and staffing issues that affected the 2021 reporting, this publication is designed to reflect the actual arrest and reporting information by South Dakota law enforcement.
The 2021 report reflects the work of law enforcement professionals around the state and assists in final determinations regarding the allocation of personnel as well as information and technology resources.
“Criminal statistics are an indispensable asset to aid in identifying trends in criminal activity,” said Interim Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation Chad Mosteller. “And that helps law enforcement officers and agencies in their efforts to keep South Dakota communities safe.”
South Dakota law enforcement agencies reported a total of 38,160 arrests involving 69,277 offenses in 2021. More serious offenses accounted for a total of 15,210 arrests and include the following: murder (1st and 2nd degree)-9, sex offenses-76, assault-5,070, larceny/theft-908, fraud-574, drug/narcotic-6,928, prostitution-7, kidnapping-64, robbery-52, arson-17, burglary-204, motor vehicle theft-270, counterfeiting-152, embezzlement-12, stolen property-167, destruction of property-386, pornography/obscene material-26, and weapon law violations-274. Less serious offenses included the following; DUI-5,654, liquor law violations-1,526, and disorderly conduct-2,615.
In November 2022 the Attorney General’s Office hired a full-time Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Coordinator and, going forward, the Office will collect incidents investigated on Indian Country and report them in this publication. That information has not previously been included in the state totals and is not included in the 2021 report.
You can read the full report here.

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