Lincoln Police Department annual report reveals increase in violent crime; overall crime down for 3rd straight year

While overall crime is down in Lincoln, violent crime rates are up, according to the newly released Lincoln Police Department 2025 annual report.

Joined by Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, Lincoln Police Department Chief Michon Morrow started a press briefing by highlighting that overall crime dropped for the third year in a row and hit a 20-year low.

Part 1 offenses, which include property crime and violent crime, were down nearly 15% overall last year compared with 2024. Property crimes decreased sharply, with the total number of completed and attempted auto thefts dropping more than 30%, while burglaries dropped nearly 28%.

Violent crimes, however, rose nearly 32% compared to 2024. Those crimes include homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and rape.

Rapes and aggravated assaults both rose 27% in 2025 compared with the previous year.

There were six homicides in Lincoln, which was down from eight in 2024.

“Every life cut short is an inconceivable loss for their loved ones,” Morrow said “And while our community suffers in those losses, we remain thankful that the number is dropping, but we will not be satisfied until that number is zero.”

She said that while the majority of homicides were domestic-related murder-suicides, the data does not show more assaults by intimate partners, at least as a percentage of overall aggravated assaults.

According to the report, 31.3% of aggravated assaults were by an intimate partner in 2025, down from 34.9% in 2024.

Another area that saw an increase were shootings and shots fired. In 2025, there were 91 total shootings, four of those being fatal, in comparison to 76 shootings in 2024. Morrow said that 15 of the 91 total were accidental firings.

Gaylor Baird and the LPD said a priority for both is continuing to expand mental health outreach. Mental health calls increased in 2025, with a total of 4,210 calls made.

The city celebrated one year of the Co-Responder Program, which is a collaborative effort between LPD and CenterPointe, a nonprofit health care organization. LPD officers and licensed behavior professionals responded to 366 calls in 2025.

“The need for mental health resources continues to climb, with mental health calls for service to LPD up 7.4% in 2025,” Morrow said. “On the flip side, those placed in emergency protective custody continues to decline, down 16% from last year.”

Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin scams are also on the rise in Lincoln. Lincolnites lost more than $11 million to cryptocurrency scams between 2021 and 2025, but over $4.4 million, or about 40% of that total, was lost to scams just in 2025.

So far this year, crypto scams have cost victims $281,204.

LPD added to its traffic unit in 2025 and saw an 8.4% increase in stops. As part of the goals from the traffic unit, the department began enforcing a vehicle nuisance ordinance that went into effect in April 2025. LPD flagged 96 vehicles as disorderly or nuisance vehicles, issuing citations along with impounding the vehicle. Morrow said the majority of the incidents occurred along O Street.

Federal and state grants are steady, Morrow says

As for federal and state grants, Morrow said the vast majority of grants have not changed. She said LPD still is able to apply for COPS grants and is looking at grant options to fund LPD’s victim assistance unit.

“Those grants did see some cuts, but those are cuts that we've experienced over a couple of years,” Morrow said. “So we're evaluating what that impact looks like, and we're also in the process of hiring new advocates.”

As part of the LPD gang unit, Operation Tipping Point is a program focused on outreach for youth who “exhibit at-risk behaviors consistent with current or potential gang affiliation,” according to LPD’s website.

Recently, three LPD staff members testified regarding potential elimination or depletion of Office of Violence Prevention funds, which were grant dollars that funded the program. Shortly after the powerful testimony as Morrow described it, the dollars are protected.

Challenges for LPD in 2026

Moving forward, thinking about challenges in 2026, Morrow said that she thinks there could be an impact in the interest of joining law enforcement.

Despite that potential impact Morrow raised, LPD saw its highest number of applicants since 2012, with 700 applications and 40 new hires.

“I think that is kind of the beauty of our recruitment plan, is we kind of consider it at a marathon, not sprints. And so we're trying to build relationships over the long term,” Morrow said.