Vice President JD Vance says ‘lawlessness’ runs downtown Canton. Some residents disagree

CANTON ‒ John Strauss has lived in the area for 31 years, and he’s been doing business downtown for 15 years.

For him, crime has never really been an issue.

“It’s an extremely safe place to be,” said the 66-year-old owner of Strauss Studios downtown. “People that come downtown to visit our store often remark on that. They say, ‘We were afraid to come down here, but now that we’re down here, we see that it’s safe, and we didn’t know what we were worried about.'”

Vice President JD Vance, during a recent visit to the Metallus Faircrest Steel Plant in Perry Township to promote the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” painted a much different picture of downtown.

“How many of you all have wanted to go to downtown Akron or downtown Canton or downtown Columbus for a meal, but you’re worried because the local authorities in these big cities have allowed lawlessness to run wild?” Vance asked steelworkers and others gathered at the plant. “We have got to make great American cities safe again for families and children.”

Following those remarks, The Canton Repository talked with people living and working downtown, as well as public officials about their opinions on crime and safety in the area. The city also provided crime statistics that show downtown is getting safer.

“Having grown up in Chicago and lived in New York City, comparatively speaking, it’s nothing like those areas,” Strauss said.

Has crime risen in Canton? Police data finds reduced levels

Data from the Canton City Police Department from recent years shows a decrease in violent crime last year for the downtown area. Fifty-six incidents were recorded in 2024, down from 58 the previous year. In 2022, 72 violent crimes were recorded, and 69 the year before.

“The notion of a lawless downtown Canton is baseless and statistically unfounded,” Mayor William V. Sherer II said in a prepared statement.

Property-related crime also went down last year downtown, with 77 incidents recorded. This is a more than 25% drop from 2023, when there were 104 incidents. Society related crimes also went down from six recorded incidents in 2023 to four incidents last year.

The Washington, D.C.-based Council on Criminal Justice said in a July 2025 crime trend report that homicides in the first six months of 2025 were down 17% from the first six months of 2024.

The nonpartisan criminal justice think tank tracked 13 offenses across 42 U.S. cities. Of those 13 offenses, 11 decreased in the first six months of the year compared to the first six months of 2024; aggravated assaults dropped 10%, gun assaults dropped 21% and sexual assaults dropped 10%.

As for property crimes, robberies were down 20% from the first six months of 2024 to the first six months of 2025, and carjackings were down 24%. The two offenses that did not decrease were drug offenses, which remained steady, and domestic violence, which rose 3%.

That doesn’t mean Americans believe cities are safer. Public perceptions of crime don’t always follow real crime trends.

In an October 2024 Gallup poll, 49% of Americans said there was more crime in their areas than there was a year ago. Another 34% said there was less crime, and 13% said it remained the same.

Asked whether there was more crime in the U.S. than there was a year ago, 64% said there was more, and 29% said there was less.

The 2024 Gallup poll showed improved perceptions from the previous year: in October 2023, 55% of Americans said there was more crime in their area than the year before, and only 28% said there was less crime. And 77% said there was more crime in the U.S. in 2023, with only 16% saying crime in the U.S. was down from the previous year.

Strauss on Vance’s comments: ‘I have no idea where that statement’s coming from.’

Strauss said crime has posed little impact on his business.

“In 15 years, we did have one rock go through a window once that just seemed to be random vandalism, but they weren’t interested in breaking in or stealing anything,” he said. “I have no idea where that statement’s coming from.”

Strauss said the notion that Canton is riddled with crime is likely based in fear, and the best way to combat it is to encourage people to visit.

“We just haven’t had any problems,” he said. “If you want to make up a problem and make up a big story, I guess you can do that if you’re a politician, but it’s not based in any reality that I’ve seen.”

‘I feel a whole lot safer now than what I have in the past,’ Canton hotel worker says

Toni Simpson, a hotel worker living in the Canton area, said she feels like there is crime that can go unseen, but there is a lot of good work being done by police.

“I kind of got into a situation … and it scared me to death, I don’t really want to go into the details, but it was a really scary situation, and I’ll be honest, the cops came within like 10, 15 minutes,” she said. “(Before), I was like, ‘These cops don’t care,’ but … they stepped in to protect me. I felt so much better.”

Simpson said that experience gave her a new appreciation for police in the downtown area.

“I feel a whole lot safer now than what I have in the past,” she said.

Simpson said it seems like crime has decreased in the area in recent years.

“I feel like it’s obviously down because I’m seeing cop cars every five or 10 minutes,” she said. “And I do feel like they kind of got it under control.”

‘This is one of the safest cities I’ve ever been in,’ says Canton-area line cook

Kahli Murphy, 44, a line cook at Bubba’s 33 in Jackson Township, said he’s been living in Canton for the past three years. He said the idea of the downtown area being run with “lawlessness” didn’t seem to fit.

“There’s negative and positive with everywhere you (could) go, but as a whole, this is one of the safest cities I’ve ever been in,” he said. “I just think they’re doing an excellent job, honestly.”

Murphy was impacted by a fire at an apartment building on 415 11th Street NW earlier this year, and he said the city’s response in handling it has been great.

“The mayor, he’s done a great job,” he said. “They put us in hotel rooms for up to a month as well as supplied most of us with housing vouchers (for) the ones of us who haven’t found housing yet.”

Murphy said though there is crime in the downtown area, it’s not a defining factor of the city by any stretch.

“If you’re in a beautiful forest, and you see two bad trees, you’re not going to say, ‘Oh it’s a terrible forest because of these two bad trees,'” he said. “You’ve got to look at the whole forest.”

Murphy said if there’s anything that needs to be addressed in the area, it’s poverty.

“Employment is what’s needed, he said. “I always thought employment helped keep poverty and threats and harm down … when everybody’s working together, pulling their own part in the community.”

‘It has its ups and downs’: Canton native weighs in on perceptions of crime

Kylee Marmet, 18, said she is divided on the issue, as she feels there is merit to both sides of the argument.

“Since I grew up here, I (feel safe),” she said. “I know that a lot of my friends outside of Canton that don’t live here, when they come over here, they don’t feel safe.”

Marmet said there is some inherent danger that the area may see during the night, but the same could be said elsewhere.

“Past a certain time, you shouldn’t be in the bad areas of Canton at night for sure, but overall, it has its ups and downs just like every other city,” she said. “I don’t think it’s that unsafe compared to any other city.”

Marmet said she felt like the police could be doing more to alleviate the problem, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot that can be done overall to stop or mitigate crime in the area after a certain point.

“Sometimes I’ll witness people doing things around the city, and the cops would be right there, and they’re not really doing anything about it,” she said. “I don’t think anything is really gonna stop the crime rate around here from going up or down. It’s gonna fluctuate.”

Canton officials reject Vance claims of ‘lawlessness’

Sherer said the vice president’s claims don’t match the data, which shows crime reductions in key incidents in downtown Canton.

“The City of Canton is experiencing record lows in homicide rates, and a reduction in violent crime, due to the exceptional work of our investigators,” he said.

Sherer also noted that the city has recently established a police substation downtown to support residents and business owners more directly.

“Our downtown is a safe space for our families to enjoy,” he said.

Police Chief John Gabbard said crime statistics don’t support the vice president’s remarks.

“I am very encouraged by the crime statistics downtown and it is not surprising,” he said in a prepared statement. “We have had significant reductions in crime throughout the city for three consecutive years. I believe our downtown business district is among the safest downtowns in Ohio. With the addition of our new substation, I expect those statistics to continue to fall.”

Includes reporting by Canton Repository staff writer Nancy Molnar and Columbus Dispatch staff writer Bailey Gallion.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Does downtown Canton have a ‘lawlessness’ problem? What residents say