Cedar Rapids violent crime increases slightly, shots fired decrease in 2025

CEDAR RAPIDS — Reported cases of violent crime — including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault — were up slightly in Cedar Rapids in 2025 compared to 2024, but are still low in comparison to the last five years, according to data released Thursday by the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

Despite the slight increase, from 372 cases in 2024 to 392 in 2025, Police Chief David Dostal said he believes the numbers indicate Cedar Rapids is a relatively safe city. The five-year average for violent crime is 436 cases, with the highest number being 467 in 2021.

“(Violent crimes) are crimes and incidents that we can’t predict. All I can say is, how the trends have been over the last five years, and how they’re trending downwards, is exactly what I want,” Dostal said. “I do believe that it’s a team effort with the vigilant and proactive work by all the officers on the police department to make a safer community, as well as the cooperation that we are now getting also with the community itself.”

The increase in violent crime in 2025 was driven mostly by assaults, which increased from 315 in 2024 to 346 in 2025, and more specifically by domestic abuse, which increased from 105 cases to 135. Other types of assault that increased included attempted murders, growing from four cases to seven; aggravated assault growing from 57 cases to 71; and assault on persons in certain occupations growing from four to five.

The only kind of violent assault that decreased was armed aggravated assault, which dropped from 145 cases to 128. Forcible rape and robbery cases also decreased, while murder increased from two cases in 2024 to three in 2025.

Shots fired calls also decreased, from 49 to 43, and they remain low compared to the five-year average of 107 calls and the five-year high of 163 calls in 2020.

Changes in non-violent crime data

Dostal said he believes the downward trend in shots fired calls is related to an upward trend in non-violent weapons-related crimes, which include illegal possession of weapons, possession of a firearm as a felon, illegal use of a firearm, and trafficking in stolen weapons.

There were a total of 191 reported weapons crimes in 2025, down slightly from 202 weapons crimes in 2024, but up from the five-year average of 169. Dostal said when those numbers go up, it can be an indication that proactive enforcement efforts to get illegal guns off the streets before they’ve been used have been effective, leading to fewer shootings and less violent crime.

“It shows that officers are out on the street, they know where to look for these guns, they're taking them off the street,” Dostal said. “That, to me, is definitely a positive trend. Even though it may look like those numbers are increasing, it's just the due diligence and the hard work of the dedicated officers.”

Most other non-violent crimes decreased in Cedar Rapids in 2024, including most property crimes and crimes against persons.

Shoplifting cases, which increased dramatically in 2024, dropped from 1,533 back to 881, which Dostal said is likely a result of individual businesses becoming more vigilant in their efforts to prevent shoplifting.

Some areas of non-violent crime that did see increases are fraudulent practice reports, from 116 cases in 2024 to 158 in 2025; drug-related crime, from 1,044 cases in 2024 to 1,402 in 2025; and alcohol-related crime, from 888 cases in 2024 to 894 in 2025.

The increase in drug and alcohol related crimes may be a result of enforcement efforts by the police department’s narcotics teams, according to Dostal, while the fraudulent practice cases are related to an increase in scams via phone or the internet that can be difficult to trace and prosecute.

  Buy Photo

Automated license plate reader cameras

While speaking with The Gazette about the annual crime data, Dostal also spoke to concerns he’s heard over the last year from community members about the addition of 70 license plate reader cameras and other surveillance cameras purchased through vendor Flock Safety that were deployed around the city this year.

Flock cameras have gained popularity in the last few years among police departments in Iowa and around the country, and have been criticized by some community members and organizations — including the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa — because of the lack of statewide regulations for their use.

“Iowans are being surveilled without their knowledge every day through ALPR data collection,” an ACLU report released in December states. “The people of Iowa, and the United States, are entitled to certain rights: to be free to move without being surveilled, to associate where and with whom they chose, and be to free from unreasonable searches. If ALPRs are unregulated, these rights are just empty promises.”

In December, an error in Flock’s system temporarily allowed public online access to at least one Cedar Rapids camera feed.

  Buy Photo

Dostal said that while he understands the public’s concerns about the cameras being misused for purposes other than law enforcement, he believes that the department’s internal policies for how the cameras can be used are sufficient to mitigate any risks, and that the cameras benefit the community by increasing safety.

“Officers have to have a reason for looking for a license plate. They cannot have it for personal reasons,” Dostal said. “It’s not for use on any gender, race, religious affiliation, anything like. That’s all protected. We utilize it in an investigative sense, and it has brought closure to many, many cases, both criminally and reuniting of individuals that are missing.”

Dostal said he doesn’t know if the use of the cameras has had much impact on the reported crimes reflected in the annual data released Thursday, but that many of those crimes — especially those involving warrants and stolen vehicles — are being solved faster now that the department is making use of license plate reader cameras.

“As a chief, I would be remiss to not be very stringent on how this is used. This is a great investigative tool, and I would be remiss to have officers misuse it in any way, because once it’s misused, that can create a lot of backlash, and that investigative tool that is used for crime prevention and crime reduction would be taken away,” Dostal said. “I couldn’t imagine living in a community where someone’s misusing this and he takes something away that will make the community that much safer.”

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com