Sioux Falls has never been known to be crawling with insane amounts of crime. However, as the population increases, so does the misconduct.

“It’s really hard to say what’s rising crime because it’s all there,” said Officer Cynthia Holmquest. “Lately it’s been more violent crimes. Assaults with weapons.”

According to neighborhoodscout.com, there is 33.68 crimes per 1,000 people in Sioux Falls annually. Only 4.39 out of the 33.68 are violent crimes. Luckily, there seems to be a simple solution for cracking down on crime locally.

“Always say something to somebody if you see something out of place,” said Holmquest. “If it’s something that concerns you and you think you need to call 911, go ahead and call us.”

Other than reporting events that seem out of place, several neighborhoods in Sioux Falls participate in the Neighborhood Watch program in order to help keep their community safe.

“[The Neighborhood Watch Program is] a community-driven group created to let each other know what’s going on crime-wise in our city,” said Holmquest.

The program is a group of people within an area that has meetings to discuss crime in their neighborhood. A police officer sits in on the meetings to listen to what may be considered rising concerns in the neighborhood.

“It helps us to see what issues that they’re not reporting that’s happening,” said Holmquest.

That being said, there are simple measures that any ordinary citizen can take in effort to help protect their community, such as the Neighborhood Watch program and simply communicating with neighbors. The rising crime rate does not have to increase further.