Last week the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released its six month figures for overall crime in Florida, from January thru June of 2006. It also compared numbers for the same time period last year (2005).

Locally, the crime numbers for January thru June, as reported to the FDLE by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office are:

• In Jacksonville, the number of crimes reported is down 609 reported crime incidents. (24,843 in 05 vs 24,232 in 06).

Statewide, the number of incidents are down 1,135 crimes. (412,743 in the first six month of 2005 versus 411,608 for the same period this year.)

Therefore, Jacksonville's decline in crime incidents this year account for 53.6% of the decline in crime state wide.

The state's semi-annual report indicates an increase in violent crime, up 3.2%. However, Jacksonville shows a 2.5% decline in violent crime for the first six months of 2006.

In non violent crimes, the state reports a decrease of 0.9%. Again, Jacksonville's decline is noteworthy, with a reduction of 2.4%.

 "These crime statistics speak for themselves and they speak well of our community," said Sheriff John Rutherford. "In the beginning of the year we were continuing our decline in overall violent and non violent crimes. I have stated many times that I believe this decline in crime was occurring because of investigative and enforcement initiatives such as Operation Showdown, our Aggravated Battery Unit and Violent Crimes Task Force.

But, this positive trend was overshadowed by the spike in murders that occurred in the beginning of the year. In May we introduced Operation Safe Streets, which is specifically designed to address murder and illegal gun crimes. I am very pleased that all indications for the second half of this year show continued declines. Certainly the overtime funding for additional officers, the citizen involvement through increased tips to the police, and the enforcement collaboration with other agencies will be evidenced in the next report," Rutherford said.

The Sheriff notes that while crime is down in Jacksonville 2.5%, other reporting jurisdictions in the county, such as the three beaches and the school board, all report independently and contribute to the county-wide crime statistics. When averaged with JSO's numbers, the overall decline in Duval County for the first six months of the year is 1.4%.

 "This is all good news. Tips to the police are on the rise, the citizens of this community are more aware of their role in helping us prevent crime and getting involved when it takes place. All of our prevention initiatives and community outreach efforts are significant and they are making an impact. This, combined with the enforcement initiatives I've mentioned all contribute to the decline in crime, and we plan to keep this momentum up," he said.

Contact: Lauri-Ellen Smith, APR
(904) 630-2538 office