Property crimes in Oxford reach 7-year low
Incidents of burglaries, larceny, motor vehicle theft and other property crimes have dropped by more than half since before the pandemic, although the reasons are yet unclear.
Since before the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of burglaries, larceny and motor vehicle theft among other property crimes in Oxford have dropped by more than half, according to numbers provided to the Ohio Incident Based Reporting System (OIBRS) through the Office of Criminal Justice Services.
In 2018, the City of Oxford reported 518 property-related crimes – the most reported by the city on the OIBRS, for which the data goes as far back as 2017.
Although crime data from the city was not reported to the OIBRS in 2019, Oxford reported 423 property crimes to the statewide system in 2020, representing a decrease of about 18% from 2018.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, property crimes reported by Oxford continued to decrease, with 153 reported in 2025, the latest recorded data according to the OIBRS, representing a more than 70% decrease in property crimes since 2018.
More specifically, the city of Oxford reported 18 burglaries, 133 incidents of larceny and two incidents of motor vehicle theft in 2025, according to the OIBRS.
In 2018, Oxford reported 68 incidents of burglaries, 432 incidents of larceny and 18 incidents of motor vehicle theft.
Although not as significant, violent crime rates in Oxford have also decreased, from 35 reported incidents in 2020 to 19 reported in 2025.
Lt. Adam Price, public information officer for the Oxford Police Department (OPD), told the Oxford Free Press reported “burglaries” don’t always mean someone broke into a house or property that doesn’t belong to them. He said occasionally, this could mean an intoxicated individual entering the wrong property.
Price said a few years’ back, theft of Kia vehicles was also common, which led to an increase in reported vehicle theft. Property damage, he said, may be tied to public intoxication.
Price pointed out property crimes have also decreased in surrounding locations like West Chester Township and Hamilton, suggesting an area-wide trend.
“It’s not just a unique thing to Oxford,” Price said of the drop in crime.
According to the OIBRS, property crimes in Hamilton have decreased by nearly half since 2018, from 2,808 reported crimes to 1,559 in 2025. Property crimes in West Chester Township dropped from 1,327 in 2018 to 902 in 2025 – a drop of about 32% – according to the OIBRS.
But Ohio’s statewide property crimes rates have also generally been trending downward since before 2018, according to the Ohio Legislative Budget Office. Nationally, violent and property crimes have been trending downward since the 1990s, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation figures reported by the Pew Research Center.
Price said although there’s nothing that has significantly changed about OPD’s approach to handling crime in Oxford beyond technological advancements, like having more cameras around the city, he speculated the COVID-19 pandemic may have “reset” the culture among college students in the city in some ways.
“I think things changed a little bit because cultures weren’t kind of passed down,” Price said, referring to the time of isolation when many new students may not have been spending time with upperclassmen, learning traditions from them and partying.
According to data provided by OPD, the top three months in 2023 and 2024 with the highest number of recorded offenses for all crimes occurred when school was in session, with September signaling the month with the highest crime rates for the past three years.
Overall, the data from OPD showed a substantial drop in all crime between 2023 and 2025, from 1,080 reports to 670. It also showed a drop in crime between 2023 and 2025 when comparing the months when students were present, from 887 reports to 532.
Price also speculated the change in crime may be related to a drop in overdoses in the area.
Scott Rasmus, executive director of the Butler County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board, said there seems to be a possible correlation between drug-seeking behavior and crime reports, although he could only provide anecdotal data from speaking to individuals in recovery.
Data provided by the Butler County Coroner’s office showed there have been less than 10 accidental overdoses each year in Oxford since 2018, peaking in 2022 with six accidental overdoses. In 2025, there were two accidental overdoses in total.
Overall, Price said crime rates in the city in general likely haven’t changed as a result of the police department itself, and the cause remains unclear.
“It’s something else at play other than just law enforcement,” Price said. “It might be some programs, it might be technology, it might be other things.”
