MSHP data shows downward trend for violent crime in Columbia, Jefferson City
Alison Patton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol shows violent crime–including murder, aggravated assault, robbery and rape — in Columbia is down 6.29% in 2025 from the previous year.
Crime in Columbia has been under watch after a Stephen’s College student was shot and killed on East Broadway in September. Since that incident, University of Missouri President Mun Choi asked the city to up its response to addressing crime, which has led to a wide array of responses from the community.
In Columbia, violent crime has been on a downward trend since 2021, when 652 violent crime incidents were reported compared to 447 incidents in 2025.
Of the 2025 total crimes, murder makes up five, which is a 61.54% drop compared to the 13 incidents in 2024, according to the MSHP crime dashboard.
Robbery incidents went down 25% with 39 crimes committed. Of those, 72.1% did not end with an injury.
Sexual assault went down 20.75% with 42 crimes committed. Acquaintances to the victims make up 38.1% of people arrested, followed by intimate partners who make up 28.6%.
Aggravated assault went up by 0.5%, going from 359 cases in 2024 to 361 cases the following year.
Columbia’s total violent crime incidents are more than three times the total reported incidents of Jefferson City, which had a total of 135.
Jefferson City is down 6.9% in 2025 compared to 2024, according to the MSHP crime dashboard.
Robbery went down 38.46%, with eight crimes. Half of the victims were unharmed, 40% had minor injuries and 10% had major injuries.
Jefferson City didn’t have any reported murders in the dataset for 2025 or the year prior. The city’s last murder crimes were committed in 2023 and 2022, each year had two incidents. Reports of sexual assault did go up 4.65% with 45 crimes. “Acquaintances” were the top alleged assailants, making up 46.7% of the cases, followed by family members and strangers, which both make up 17.8%.