Policing Old Elm Spring Colony: who reports, and what
For a graded neighbor, the nearest is Mitchell (C), 20 miles away. Old Elm Spring Colony has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Hutchinson County. The Hutchinson 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 Old Elm Spring Colony alone, and no Safety Grade.
What stands out about safety in Old Elm Spring Colony
Policed by the county
Old Elm Spring Colony is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for Old Elm Spring Colony. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest South Dakota towns with their own police figures are Mitchell (C, 20 mi), Wagner (D, 38 mi), Yankton (C, 46 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from Old Elm Spring Colony. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Hutchinson County without police of their own, which include Old Elm Spring Colony.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2024 offenses reported by the Hutchinson 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 Dakota towns with a Safety Grade
Straight-line distance from the center of Old Elm Spring Colony. Nearby towns can differ a lot from Old Elm Spring Colony.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
No one died in a crash on Old Elm Spring Colony’s roads in 2019–2023
That is about what is typical for South Dakota towns of 2,500–5,000 people: at their median rate (0.0 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Old Elm Spring Colony’s size would see about 0 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Old Elm Spring Colony’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
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.
Old Elm Spring Colony and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
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 Old Elm Spring Colony
Is Old Elm Spring Colony, SD safe?
There is no Safety Grade for Old Elm Spring Colony. The nearest South Dakota towns with a grade are Mitchell (C, 20 mi), Wagner (D, 38 mi), Yankton (C, 46 mi).
Who polices Old Elm Spring Colony?
The Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office. Old Elm Spring Colony is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Hutchinson 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 Old Elm Spring Colony.
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.