Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. releases 2025 crime statistics

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC (WOLO) — The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is releasing its crime statistics for 2025.

Gun violence remains at the forefront of crimes, says Sheriff Leon Lott.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Lott gave a recap on crime statistics,  stressing that he believes crime is not just a law enforcement problem — but a community one.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re gonna do our part. We’re gonna continue to do our part every single day. We’re standing here asking the community, and that’s everybody in the community to be a part of the solution. If you’re not, you’re a part of the problem,” says Lott.

According to RCSD, there were 26 murders across the county last year — compared to 27 in 2024.

The victims were as young as 16-years-old, and as old as 78-years-old.

Every homicide in the past three years, Lott says, has been solved –with the murders in 2025 leading to the arrests of 37 men and women.

Reports of sexual assault slightly decreased, while other assaults jumped by 15 percent.

While burglaries remained flat at just under 780 in 2024 and 2025, larcenies went up by 13% to over 2600 cases. Lott accounts many of those to thefts to the homeless population.

“It happens. They break in at night, and they steal during the day from businesses. That’s a fact,” he says.

However, gun violence remains the most pressing issue — with over 1,600 guns turned in as evidence, taken from crime scenes and from people who had them illegally.

One hundred and seventy seven of those, he says, were stolen, and, of those, 46 were stolen from vehicles.

“I get asked, ‘Where do these young people get guns from?’ It’s from people leaving guns in the vehicle. The vehicle is being left unlocked or broken into, and it gets stolen and ends up on the street,” he says.

And as part of its newest parental accountability initiative, seven parents — one father and six mothers — were arrested throughout the year. Lott says the parents knew their teenager had or used a weapon and either did not act, or helped hide their child’s crime.

“I’ve been asked, ‘Why do you wanna lock all these parents up?’ The answer is they’re not being parents. They’re enabling their children to commit crimes, or helping the kids commit crimes. They need to be held accountable,” he says, who believes the parental accountability initiative is working.

The department has seen a 40% increase in calls by parents and grandparents to their Youth Services Division asking for help with troubled teenagers.