Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

In keeping with the statewide trend, Jefferson County saw its crime rate drop during the first six months of 2019, compared with the same period in 2018.
Not so for the City of Monticello, however, if its numbers are isolated from the county's. On its own, the city's numbers show a slight increase in the crime rate during the first half of 2019, compared with the first half of 2018.
Keep in mind, however, that the numbers for the city and county are small in relation to larger counties and municipalities, and that percentages alone don't tell the complete story.
That said, the figures just released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) in its 2019 Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR) show an overall 21.6-percent decrease in index crimes for Jefferson County overall during the first six months of 2019, compared with the first six months of 2018.
Which percentage represents a difference of 45 crimes between the two periods, from the 208 index crimes recorded in the first six months of 2018, to the 163 reported in the first half of 2019.
The index crimes are divided into violent and property. The four violent ones are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and the three property crimes are burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
The UCR shows that the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) investigated 123 of the 163 reported offenses, which represents a 30.9-percent drop in crime, compared with the 178 incidents it handled in the first six months of 2018.
The Monticello Police Department (MPD), meanwhile, investigated 40 of the 163 offenses in the first six months of 2019, a 37.9-percent increase in crime, compared with the 29 incidents it handled in the first six months of 2018.
Not to downplay the impact of even a single crime or belabor the point, but it bears repeating that statistics can be misleading, and that populations count – a point that local law enforcement officers repeatedly make when addressing the UCR. Meaning that in a sparsely populated county such as Jefferson, a slight increase in the number of crimes can translate into a significant percentage difference, whereas in a larger community, a significantly larger increase in the number of crimes can translate into a small percentage change.
Consider, for the sake of scale and perspective, nearby Leon County, which saw an overall drop of 12.4 percent its index crimes rate during the first six months of 2019, representing 803 fewer crimes than the comparative period in 2018. Even so, Leon County had 5,686 index crimes in the first half of 2019 (compared with 6,489 in the first half of 2018). Which makes Jefferson County's 163 crimes pale by comparison. And that's not comparing Jefferson County to Miami-Dade, Hillsborough or others of the state's larger counties.
Per the URC, the overall local decrease in crime in 2019 occurred across six of the index crime categories, the exception being aggravated assaults, which saw a slight increase.
A breakdown of the local index crimes during the first six months of 2019: zero murder, one rape, three robberies, 39 aggravated assaults, 54 burglaries, 59 larcenies, and seven motor vehicle thefts. For comparison, the corresponding numbers in the first six months of 2018 were two murders, four rapes, five robberies, 35 aggravated assaults, 74 burglaries, 79 larcenies, and nine motor vehicle thefts.
The overall combined clearance rate for local law enforcement for the first half of 2019 improved 0.2 percent, from 38.5 percent in 2018, to 38.7 percent in 2019. Differentiated by departments, the numbers show the JCSO had a 28.5-percent clearance rate and the MPD a 70-percent rate.
A breakdown of the 163 index crimes in the first six months of 2019 shows one rape in the county; three robberies in the city; 36 aggravated assaults in the county and three in the city; 39 burglaries in the county and 15 in the city; 40 larcenies in the county and 19 in the city; and all seven motor vehicle thefts in the county.
All told, the JCSO made 159 arrests, 131 of them adults and 28 juveniles. Of the 159 arrests, one was for robbery, eight for aggravated assault, 11 for burglary, six for larceny and two for motor vehicle theft. The rest of the arrests by the JCSO were for crimes other than index crimes, including seven for intimidation, two for prostitution, one for stolen property, eight for DUI, seven for weapons violation and 51 for miscellaneous offenses.
The MPD made 39 arrests, 26 of them adults and 13 juveniles. Of the 39 arrests, two were for robbery, 12 for burglary and five for larceny. The rest of the arrests by the MPD were for crimes other than the index crimes, including one DUI and nine miscellaneous offenses.
In terms of other law enforcement agencies, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made 20 arrests, one for weapons violation, three for liquor law violations, and 16 for miscellaneous offenses. And the Florida Highway Patrol made 28 arrests, 22 of them for DUI and six for miscellaneous offenses.
Statewide, the crime volume dropped 6.1 percent, representing 17,079 fewer reported index crimes in the first six months of 2019 than in the first six months of 2018. This translates into a total of 265,202 index crimes committed in 2019, versus 282,281 in 2018.
The statewide numbers for the first six months of 2019 show 509 murders, 4,183 rapes, 7,971 robberies, 27,145 aggravated assaults, 30,653 robberies, and 176,004 larcenies.
The semi-annual report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on the FDLE’s website at www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/UCR-Reports.aspx.

Sheriff reflects on crime report

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Sheriff Mac McNeill expressed pleasure with the newly-released crime figures, seeing them as a reflection of the good work that his department and officers were doing.
All the same, McNeill said, he recognized that the numbers were subject to change and that factors beyond his and his officers' control were at play.
“We're always trying to bring crime down and we're proud of these numbers,” McNeill said of the 2019 Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report (UCR) that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released this week. “But we also recognize that these numbers fluctuate, that crime ebbs and flows, and that we're at the mercy of the criminals.”
He cited the Monticello Police Department's numbers as a perfect example. He didn't want to speak for the MPD or Chief Fred Mosley, McNeill said. But he thought it warranted saying that the MPD was doing a good job, he said. Yet the MPD had seen its crime rate go up because of a couple of individuals who had committed a series of crimes, he said. The MPD had ultimately arrested the two individuals, McNeill said.
“But still, it made their numbers go up,” he said.
Not to make excuses, McNeill added.
“We own the numbers, whatever they are,” he said.
His point, however, was that factors outside law enforcement's control, and despite its best efforts, sometimes influenced the outcomes.
Location, he said, was a definite factor that impacted on this community's crime rate.
“Our location south of Thomasville and east of Tallahassee puts us in a bad situation,” McNeill said. “When they put pressure on crime in those places, it doesn't go away. It just goes to the point of least resistance, which is us.”
Social media also wasn't helping the situation, he said, noting that technology was a two-edged sword. Social media's interconnectivity, he said, often played to the advantage of criminals – especially the younger ones – allowing them to communicate with each other and exploit local vulnerabilities.
“They learn from each other and about the possibilities here,” McNeill said.
In terms of the UCR, he credited it as a valuable tool.
“We use the numbers to be more effective in fighting crime,” McNeill said. “We use them to focus on certain areas and types of crimes. When you're small, you have work smart.”
He praised the cooperative relationship that exists between the MPD and his department, noting that the two agencies worked closely and effectively to address crime.
“What affects us affects them, and what affects them, affects us,” McNeill said of the MPD. “We share information and intelligence. We work well together as a team.”
Mosley was contacted for comments. He was unable, however, to respond before press time.