SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (KCAU) — The South Sioux City Police Department (SSCPD) has finalized its crime numbers from 2022.

The overall numbers rose again from last year compared to the previous year. The total number of crimes rose from 935 in 2021 to nearly 1,000 in 2022. That was the highest number of crimes South Sioux City has seen in one year since 2018.

Chief of Police Ed Mahon said domestic assault was one of the largest increases from 2021 to 2022. He said the sharp rise in domestic assaults was surprising because that crime was much less prevalent in previous years.

“Our initial thinking that was when COVID was at its height and everyone was locked in together, that there would be more domestic assaults, but there wasn’t everything went down. And now that we’re out of COVID, for whatever reason, domestics are up,” said Chief Mahon.

Mahon said the department recorded 158 simple assaults in 2022. One of the highlights of the crime stats South Sioux City saw was 30 fewer shoplifting incidents in 2022 compared to 2021.