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Violent crime down for first half of year
Overall crime statistics up slightly
Violent crime down for first half of yearOverall crime statistics up slightlyPOSTED 10/15/2008 - The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has announced that violent crime is down by 2.4 percent for the first half of 2008. The figure is part of the 2008 Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report which was released Tuesday, providing a preliminary indication of this year’s crime figures.
The report includes data submitted by 406 law enforcement agencies for crimes reported from January through June of this year. Murder, robbery, aggravated assault and forcible sex offenses, all showed a decrease over the same period last year. The overall crime volume reported in Florida increased by 1.6 percent compared to the same time period in 2007. Locally, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns counties have shown a rise in cases while crime is down in Baker, Bradford and Union. (See table below) "The first half of the year is typically a good indicator as to what is ahead in the remaining months," said FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey. "Arrests are up and we applaud the hard work of Florida law enforcement in aggressively combating crime." While violent crime figures are down in the first six months of 2008, burglaries are up 3.6 percent as the state's economy slowed. Nearly $876 million in property was stolen during the first half of the year. "Even though we are in a depressed economy, we are pleased that the cooperative effort between the citizens of Florida and Florida Law Enforcement Agencies has produced a reduction in violent crime and a low overall crime rate statewide," said Okaloosa Sheriff Charlie Morris, President of the Florida Sheriffs Association. "With Florida Law Enforcement agencies facing hard economic times in the future, we will need to rely even more on our citizens to help us keep the crime rate low." In addition, the number of reported domestic violence offenses decreased by 3.0 percent from last year. Total arrests increased by 3.9 percent from last year’s figure. Juvenile arrests increased 0.9 percent, while adult arrests increased 4.3 percent. Motor vehicle theft is down 10.1 percent over the same period last year. During this reporting period, one officer was killed in the line of duty. Detective James Walker of the Miami Police Department was killed In Jan. 2008 by a suspect who mistook the officer’s car for the vehicle of his accomplice. The complete 2008 Semi-Annual Crime in Florida, Uniform Crime Report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on FDLE’s Web site: http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/fsac/ucr/
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