The police behind Dentsville’s crime figures
Drive 10 miles in any direction and you reach 3 towns with grades of their own. Dentsville has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Richland County. The Richland County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for Dentsville alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Dentsville
Policed by the county
Dentsville is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Richland County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Richland County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Dentsville. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest South Carolina towns with their own police figures are Forest Acres (D, 3 mi), Columbia (D, 4 mi), Cayce (D, 10 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Dentsville. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Richland County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Richland County without police of their own, which include Dentsville.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest South Carolina towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Acres | D | 3 mi | 3.7 | 32.8 |
| Columbia | D | 4 mi | 7.7 | 32.7 |
| Cayce | D | 10 mi | 6.9 | 26.9 |
| West Columbia | D− | 10 mi | 6.5 | 43.1 |
| Elgin | D− | 11 mi | 5.1 | 50.7 |
| Springdale | D | 12 mi | 6.4 | 24.8 |
Straight-line distance from the center of Dentsville. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Dentsville.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
16 people died in crashes on Dentsville’s roads in 2019–2023
Dentsville had 16 fatal crashes in five years, in which 16 people died; 7 were pedestrians. Most of these deaths (8 of 16) were on an Interstate passing through, so they say more about through-traffic than about the town’s own streets.
That is 21.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for South Carolina towns of 5,000–25,000 people (8.8, 79 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Dentsville and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | D | 7.7 | 32.7 |
| Forest Acres | D | 3.7 | 32.8 |
| Woodfield | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Woodfield is an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) with no police department of its own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Dentsville
Is Dentsville, SC safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Dentsville. The nearest South Carolina towns with a grade are Forest Acres (D, 3 mi), Columbia (D, 4 mi), Cayce (D, 10 mi).
Who polices Dentsville?
The Richland County Sheriff’s Office. Dentsville is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Richland County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Dentsville.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.