TOPEKA (KSNT) —Topeka police have issued a correction to their 2026 mid-year crime statistics report Friday, resulting in adjusted figures for violent and property crimes.
Kimberly Qualls with the City of Topeka issued a press release on Nov. 6 stating that a technical reporting error tied to the 2026 mid-year crime statistics released in July caused some crimes to be excluded from the original report. This resulted in law enforcement reporting that offenses associated with violent and property crimes dropped more than it actually had.
Qualls said the problem started with a data-transfer interruption in March. Topeka Police Department (TPD) personnel worked with the system vendor in April to correct the issue, believing the problem to be fixed by the time the 2026 mid-year crime statistics were released. However, follow-up reviews identified almost 360 additional crimes that were not included in the original report.
Law enforcement personnel have now adjusted the statistics in light of the crimes not included in the original 2026 mid-year report. Qualls emphasized that, despite the adjusted statistics, overall part I crime, which includes property crime and violent crime, remains 20% below the five-year mid-year average. The original five-year mid-year average from the July TPD report was a decrease of 34%.
- 2025-2026 overall part I crime (property crime and violent crime): decreased by 9% instead of the originally reported 25% decrease
- Violent crime: increased by 1% instead of the originally reported 11% decrease
- Property crime: decreased by 12% from 2025 to 2026 instead of the originally reported 28% decrease
“Accurate crime reporting is essential to maintaining public trust,” said Topeka Police Chief Chris Vallejo. “While the corrected statistics still show an overall reduction in crime, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and correct errors, regardless of whether the results are favorable or unfavorable. Transparency and accountability are fundamental to how we serve our community.”
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TPD personnel have worked with their system vendor to correct the reporting issues and are implementing more verification procedures to help prevent similar errors in the future. You can find the TPD’s adjusted 2026 mid-year crime statistics online by clicking here or by looking at the document below:
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