Klamath Falls Crime Rate

The safety of a community is often determined by the crime rate which is generally calculated from FBI crime data based on two categories, violent crime and property crime occurrences reported per 100,000 people. The overall crime rate in the state of Oregon is lower than the national average but property crime in Oregon tends to be higher than the nation's average. The Klamath Falls crime rate follows this same trend in that the majority of crime in Klamath Falls is attributable to property crimes rather than violent crimes and according to SafeHome.org, the property crime trend in Klamath Falls is actually declining.

Klamath Falls Police Department has worked closely in recent years to foster stronger community partnerships and implement tactics to help address root cause of crime and the perception of crime. The local police force has adopted the motto “Policing with a Purpose”, and provide support to low-income neighborhoods in clean-up efforts – taking care of the “little things” to assist struggling neighbors in voluntarily complying with code violations.

Relationship building has been a strong focus for local police groups, through efforts such as “Coffee with a Cop” and “Shop with a Cop,” both of which allow citizens to connect with the local police force in an approachable way. This kind of relationship building helps citizens feel safe and at ease while also getting more police presence in neighborhoods, which helps quell crime. Through these new initiatives, Klamath Falls has seen a reduction in person crimes by 25%, property crimes by 12%, and overall crime by 10%, achieving a 10-year low in Klamath Falls!

Healthy Klamath Promise to the Community

Healthy Klamath has multiple approaches to improving the community of Klamath Falls which in turn, improves the safety and quality of life of the residents. We have a full Promising Practices database that informs all professionals and members of Klamath Falls of how we are working to improve the community. This includes multiple safety related practices in place like the Violence Intervention Program, Too Good for Violence program, and the Bridging the Gap: Youth Violence Reduction program idea. The goal of each of these effective and systematic programs are to support implementation and policy changes within our community.

In 2019 and 2020, Blue Zones Project and Healthy Klamath  received grant funding to further safety efforts through the Safe Routes Partnership. Safe Routes to Schools grant funding has helped provide safety education to Klamath Falls City School District elementary and junior high students, where students are more likely to walk to school. An additional grant was received in 2020 year to improve park access and trail signage via the Safe Routes to Parks grant. Investments are being made for young and old alike to ensure walkability of the community are factored in to safety efforts.

Healthy Klamath Falls Means Safer Klamath Falls

A safer community is a direct reflection on the health of its community members. The Healthy Klamath coalition is a multi-sector partnership established to guide community health improvement efforts in Klamath County, Oregon. In recent years, the coalition has responded to low rankings of the area in community health and in 2018, Klamath County was one of four winners nationwide to be awarded the Robert Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize recognizing the community's priority on health and deep commitment to overall well-being of its residents. We believe that good health leads to higher safety and this is showing in the Klamath Falls crime rate and safety statistics.

As proof of this belief, Klamath Falls is seeing an upward trend in the feeling of safety among its residents. In the latest Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index Survey, residents reported an increase in community pride of nearly 15% and are feeling safer. A majority of the community reported in the same survey that they feel safe about living in Klamath Falls, with an increase of 14% over a three-year period. Efforts to improve the walkability, livability, and sense of social-connectedness play a major role in the well-being of a community. In addition to efforts such as Blue Zones Project, the spirit of collaboration across multiple sectors continues to contribute to the safety and vibrancy of Klamath Falls.