Violent crime is becoming more common in small towns and cities across Iowa, outpacing a rise in urban centers, the Des Moines Register reports. Law enforcement officials say drug use and a lack of mental health services across the state are helping push crime numbers higher. The Department of Corrections will host a summit on the problem next month. While Iowa’s violent crime rate increased 3 percent from 2006 to 2016, the rate among communities of under 10,000 residents rose 50 percent during that same period, and the rate rose 16 percent in “micropolitan” areas of 10,000 to 49,999 people. The rise in small-town violent crime is most apparent in a handful of Iowa counties spread around the state. In Guthrie County, violent crime charges increased 84 percent — from 50 to 92 — from 2015 to 2017. Six other rural Iowa counties — Monona, Madison, Osceola, Page, Jones and Monroe — saw violent charges leap by 50 percent.
Nonviolent crimes such as drug charges, burglary, motor vehicle theft, forgery and intimidation cases have also seen significant rises in the state’s smallest communities, FBI data show. Widespread addiction, crime and neglect have caused some to use the term “rural ghetto” to describe what’s happening in parts of the state. Drive around Casey, a town of 400 once known for its antiquing, and Deputy Kent Gries can point to homes where he’s been dispatched on almost every block. Gries estimates he’s been to about 75 percent of the homes in Casey because of either drugs, domestic disturbances or welfare checks. The primary driver is the highly addictive Mexican cartel methamphetamine flowing into the area and the mental health problems that drug worsen. In 2014, Iowa’s rate of residents seeking treatment for meth addiction ranked highest in the U.S., says the Governor’s Office on Drug Control Policy. Roughly 213 of every 100,000 Iowans sought treatment primarily for meth. The national average was 53 for every 100,000.