KENT COUNTY, Mich. — According to the Kent County Sheriff's Office, crime is on the rise across the county.
"There is an increase in violence in Kent County, and as a result, we have to improve our response to it," said Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young.
Crimes in the county have been steadily rising since 2019, with a large number of recent violent crimes happening south of Grand Rapids.
"I think relative to the number of bodies that we're dealing with there, there is certainly a propensity for crime," said Young, who emphasizes that more equals more crime is a trend beyond the county as well.
"I think the facts to really focus on are that there is population increase, there's higher use of some central resources, like retail areas that bring people into a concentrated location, you're going to see more crime, relative to the fact there's more people in these areas," said Young.
"If I look at other retail areas that are similar in nature throughout Kent County, really the same kinds of things are happening at all of those central places, whether it's in Wyoming or Kentwood."
Young says enough people have recently moved to the county's townships that they could populate a new one.
"Nine thousand eight hundred people, we've increased in the townships of Kent County."
The county's online dashboard shows that 253 aggravated assaults have taken place in 2023 so far, nearing the 275 that took place in 2022. Of the 253, Young says 58 incidents have involved a gun.
She also stresses that motor vehicle theft continues to rise.
"Significant increase over the last several years is still sustaining to be an increase. This is a huge factor for the safety of our communities, period. They're driving in ways that are criminal and dangerous. They're using these vehicles in other crimes."
Gaines Township has entered a contract with the Sheriff's Office, along with Algoma and Cortland townships to increase officers, as Young says more police and resources are needed to counter crimes in a growing population.
"We've also added school resource officers, community police officers, all of those resources add people that we can use to help resolve these crimes," said Young.
"There's never going to be enough law enforcement to keep community safe all by themselves. The community has to participate in that. That generally shows up like reporting incidents that happen even if they seem minor, talking about what you saw, being a witness in the event that you do witness something, taking reasonable preventative actions."
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