Crime rates in Florida are at a 46-year low across the state. Central Florida's crime rates are down too.  

  • In Orange County crime was down 4.6% in 2016, and in Orlando it’s down 12.8%
  • Crime is down in many categories, except murders and rapes
  • In Florida, crime was down 4.4 percent in 2016
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“It is always a moving target and something that we are constantly looking at to improve where we can,” said Captain Angelo Nieves, Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

To combat crime, law enforcement agencies normally document every incident, every broken law, every arrest. That information is then compiled statewide and nationally in Uniform Crime Reports.

“They sort of give that baseline, it’s that snapshot of crime across the state,” said Lee Massie, Valencia College Criminal Justice Institute director. “And if there is a pattern, it allows them to use their limited resources more effective and efficiently.”

Lee Massie spent years in law enforcement and now is an expert in crime numbers.

“The numbers themselves speak to a broad picture, of what is going on across the state, and speaks to the fact that things are going good,” said Massie.

In Florida, crime was down 4.4 percent in 2016.

 

 

In Orange County it was down 4.6 percent, and in Orlando it was down 12.8 percent.

“It shows a reduction in almost every category that is captures, minus the murders,” said Massie.

In Orlando burglary, larceny and aggravated assault are all down.

“Yeah, that is a pretty significant decrease and we are very happy with that,” said Chief John Mina, Orlando Police.

But murder and rape cases both show an increase.

“I always say homicide is a hard crime to predict, or prevent. It is a crime of passion,” said Mina.

In 2015 there were 32 murders, but in 2016 there were 84 murders. In 2016, 49 people were killed in the Pulse massacre, which skews the statistic. But, even if the 49 lives lost at Pulse are removed, the numbers still show an overall increase between years.

“If you do take that out, there is an increase, but the good news is, this year the homicides are down by 20 percent,” said Mina.

Rape is also up from 182 cases to 211 cases. Chief Mina said there may be a reason we are seeing higher numbers.  

“So I think what you are seeing is not necessary an increase in committed crimes, but an increase in reported crimes, specifically rape,” said Mina. He says public awareness campaigns have encouraged and informed more victims about coming forward.  

In Orange County, every crime is down except murder. It is up from 53 cases in 2015 to 61 cases in 2016.

“Murders are always a difficult moving target, you have incidents of domestic violence, you have incidents of emotion,” said Nieves. “You have situations where alcohol are introduced into these situations. And when these things occur they happen rapidly and sometimes in closed environments and residents, and so forth.”

But OCSO and OPD both look at numbers daily to make sure they stay on top of all crime. And overall it is down.

“A lot of people say, ‘Well what do you attribute that to?’ I give a lot of the credit to our officers who are out there working hard, but also our residents,” said Mina.

Nieves agrees their deputies and the community have really played a large role in the overall decrease.

“Residents are key to this, they are our eyes and ears when we are out on the streets,” said Cpt. Nieves. “We are  constantly looking at what areas we have an impact on, as the trends change, so do we, we are very fluid.”

Orlando police say their murders are also down 20 percent so far in 2017. That's fourteen in the first six months, and of those, 12 are already solved. 

Massie said when considering the growing number of people throughout the Central Florida area, an overall crime decrease is a big deal.

“And then to be able to produce an annual report in all of these crime categories, speaks volumes for the kind of work we are getting from out law enforcement,” said Massie.