LEXINGTON, Ky — The number of homicides in Lexington dramatically dropped between 2022 and 2023, but it is not something many people realize.
It’s part of a national trend where crime is down, but concerns about crime are up. A national Gallup poll found those concerns are at their highest levels in 2 decades.
It’s a perception that Chief Weathers thinks it is important to change in Lexington.
“When you talk to people about the perception, I have to tell them, in this community crime is not increasing, it’s actually going down,” Weathers said. “You always hear the old saying that perception is reality, well that’s not true.”
Instead, he explained perception is perceived reality.
“We have to be at the forefront of making sure that, hey, if this incident happened we have to be transparent that we are investigating,” Weathers said. “We also have to be honest if it is part of a larger problem or is this specific to the incident at hand.”
Weathers said if they learn there is a larger problem, they need to ask if they are dealing with it on a larger social scale.
