Recently released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the mid-year crime statistics show a 4.8 percent drop in the state’s overall crime rate. In Florida, violent crimes decreased by 10.7 percent and non-violent crimes dropped by 3.8 percent over the same time period in 2009, according to FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey.

Violent index crimes are listed as murder, forcible sex offenses, robbery and aggravated assault. Non-violent index crimes consist of burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

The 2010 Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report released last month reflects crime activity during the first six months of 2010, but is a good indicator as to what can be expected for the full year.

In Wakulla County, the number of index crimes fell 2.4 percent from the first six months of 2009 compared to the same time period in 2010. There were 374 index crimes during the first six months of 2009 and 365 during the same period in 2010.

There were no murders in the first half of 2009 or 2010. Forcible rape remained the same at five. Robberies fell from five to three. Aggravated assaults fell from 57 to 28. Burglaries remained steady at 70. Larceny increased from 223 to 245 and motor vehicle theft remained steady at 14. The percentage of index crimes cleared increased in 2010 to 36.2 percent, up from 34.8 percent during the same time period in 2009.

In Leon County, index crimes decreased .6 percent in 2010 from 6,034 index crimes in 2009 to 5,996 during the same time period in 2010. Murders more than doubled from three to eight and larceny was also up. The crime clearance in Leon County remained the same at 24 percent. Murders were also up in Florida, 470 to 487.

Franklin County index crimes were down from 171 to 146, but murders were up from zero to one. Gadsden County index crimes were down from 823 to 611, but murders were up from zero to two. Crime was up in Jefferson County from 152 to 175 index crimes. Taylor County index crimes decreased from 371 to 292 but murders were up from one to two. Liberty County declined to report statistics to the state since it is not required.

Major Maurice Langston, supervisor of the law enforcement side of the WCSO operation, said the sheriff’s office has returned to a model of community policing.

Deputies are in the communities finding out what problems exist in the communities and reporting suspicious activity themselves as well as responding to citizen complaints.

“Last year we started to go back to what worked for us prior to Sept. 11, 2001,” said Major Langston. “After Sept. 11, everyone focused on Homeland Security and stopped focusing on community policing. We’re still trained to do things that came about through those Homeland Security grants. We still react to citizen calls and come out to handle them, but Sheriff Harvey realized that we needed to change our focus off the Homeland Security goals and be more co-active, proactive and reactive as the most effective way to fight crime. Reactive is when you call and we come. Co-active is getting in the communities with the people and proactive is when we generate complaint calls initiated by our deputies,” said Major Langston.

Neighborhood Watch programs also assist in building community trust and residents feel more comfortable reporting problems to the sheriff’s office, added the Major.

The report includes data submitted by 405 of the state’s 416 law enforcement agencies, including the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office, for crimes reported from January through June. The 405 agencies represent 97.3 percent of all law enforcement agencies in Florida and 99.1 percent of the total population of the state. The complete 2010 Semi-Annual Crime in Florida, Uniform Crime Report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on the FDLE web site: www.fdle.state.fl.us/fsac/ucr/.

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