DAYTON — Cities and counties around the country saw a rise in violent crime in 2020, including Dayton and Montgomery County.
Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said that the Sheriff’s office investigated seven homicides this year, plus two more they are working for smaller police agencies. Last year, that number was four.
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Dayton police saw numbers trend upward also. 37 homicides were investigated in 2018. The following year saw that number rise to 51, but nine of those were in one incident in the Oregon District and two were victims of a high speed crash that was ruled as a homicide. This year, there were 48 homicide investigations without any mass casualty event.
Streck feels that COVID restrictions had a negative effect on the work of law enforcement. Because of that, he will be lifting pandemic protocols that stifled his officers’ productivity.
“We’re not waiting until after COVID,” Streck said. “We’re moving back to full enforcement actions.”