Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – Despite Jonesboro’s population continuing to grow, overall crime over the past 10 years has decreased, Jonesboro Police Department Chief Rick Elliott said.
Elliott said the downward trend is the result of improving technology and increased community engagement. In 2025, Jonesboro had a population of 82,615 and saw a total of 18,041 total crimes reported, according to JPD statistics.
In 2024, the department reported 20,615 crimes reported and 21,148 in 2023. The full report can be found below. There was a total of 472 major crimes against persons in 2025, down from 589 in 2024. Crimes against property also decreased from 4,832 in 2024 to 4,043 in 2025.
“Proactive policing is paying off. Bad things are gonna happen, we as a police department can’t control who’s gonna shoot who or whatever. You’re dealing with humans, you have no control,” Elliott said. “But we have increased our solvability rate by technology, innovation technology with the Real Time Crime Center.”
The City of Jonesboro recently announced that the Real Time Crime Center received $3.5 million in federal appropriations. In June 2025, the Jonesboro City Council approved $17.5 million in revenue bonds backed by franchise fees to invest in various city projects, the E-911/Real Time Crime Center being one of them.
The center will be located on city-owned property on Washington Avenue.
Elliott added that other advancements, such as the improvement of medical technology and JPD officers carrying medical equipment with them, have helped increase the survivability of violent crimes against persons.
“Twenty years ago, the ERs and medicine is not what it is today. So, better medicine, better-trained trauma doctors. We’re [JPD officers] carrying tourniquets now, we’re saving lives that probably would have died and counted as a homicide,” he said. “So, that violent stuff is out there, the survivability is higher, so therefore it keeps that number down.”
He added that with increased technology and camera systems, criminals fear getting caught, and that they are more likely to be apprehended in Jonesboro.
“Because we have all this technology going on, and they’re making arrests. We advertise our arrests,” Elliott said. “That’s a positive effect.”
The chief said thefts from motor vehicles had increased. According to JPD statistics, 270 thefts from a motor vehicle were reported in 2024, and 653 were reported in 2025. Elliott stressed that people should lock their vehicles and stow away valuables, and that the message is echoed by police departments around the country.
“That has always been an ongoing and persistent problem here in Jonesboro. Doesn’t make a difference where you live,” he said.
Community engagement and transparency have also assisted with the downward trend, the chief said. The department implemented officers wearing body cameras in 2018, and the Citizen Police Academy (CPA), which was started in 2015, has now graduated over 400 people. Applications for the spring 2026 CPA session are still open, although the registration deadline is fast approaching.
| READ MORE: Jonesboro Police and Fire Departments open doors for citizens’ academy applications
“The fact that the [population] growth is growing and things are kind of staying somewhat steady, not many cities can say that,” Elliott said. “It goes back to trying to be proactive, innovation technology, community engagement, getting the community to help us do our job, it paid off. We’re saying this is the end result.”
