BILLINGS - Weapon crimes, aggravated assault and theft rose in Billings in 2021, while drug offenses and overall emergency call volume went down, according to the Billings police annual report released Thursday.
Billings police responded to 165 weapons offenses last year, a 200 percent increase from the 55 calls in 2020, according to the report.
The number of aggravated assaults was 818 in 2021, which eclipsed the 2020 record high of 792. Sexual assaults rose 44 percent last year to 134 calls.
Thefts were up 30 percent in 2021, wth 5,548 responses.
On the flip side, drug offenses were way down. Drug crimes peaked in 2018 with 1,910 but totaled just over half that number in 2021 with 1,082 offenses.
Billings police received 90,000 total calls for service in 2021, which was down from 96,500 the previous year.
Police Chief Rich St. John will host a news conference 11 a.m. Friday to discuss the report. The conference will be streamed live on the Q2 Facebook page, on ktvq.com, and on our streaming app.
Read the full report below:
