- Crime drops statewide; rises locally -

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Jefferson County again bucked the trend when it came to crime in 2020, registering a rate increase from the previous year – mostly due to activity in the city – while the state overall saw a decrease in the crime rate for the 50th straight year.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) released its Annual Uniform Crime Report on Monday, June 20, showing the state with a 14.1 percent decrease, or 76,523 fewer reported index crimes in 2020, compared to 2019.
The index crimes, which number seven, are divided into violent and property. The violent crimes are murder, rape, robbery and assault. The property crimes are burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
According to the FDLE report, Florida had 464,805 total index crimes in 2020, down from 541,328 in 2019. Of these 464,805 crimes, 82,941 were violent and 381,864 were property.
The 464,805 crimes break down into 1,285 murders, 7,650 rapes, 13,439 robberies, 60,567 aggravated assaults, 51,928 burglaries, 291,923 larcenies, and 38,013 motor vehicle thefts.
Murder and aggravated assault alone saw increases in 2020, up 14.7 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively. All the other index crimes registered decreases, ranging from minus 2.5 percent to minus 18.5 percent.
All told, 507,498 individuals were arrested across the state in 2020, a 25.3 percent drop from the previous year. Of the 507,498 arrests, 33,577 were for violent crimes, 66,264 for property crimes, and 407,657 for other than the index crimes.
Jefferson County, meanwhile, saw 346 index crimes in 2020, compared with 296 in 2019, representing a 16.9 percent increase overall. When one looks closer at the numbers, however, the county’s increase was 1.3 percent, versus the city’s 62.1 percent change.
An interesting side note, according to the FDLE statistics, the county’s population dropped during the year, from 14,776 in 2019 to 14,394 in 2020 – a loss of 382 persons.
The local index crimes in 2020 break down into zero murder, six rapes, zero robbery, 106 aggravated assaults, 71 burglaries, 145 larcenies and 18 vehicle thefts.
The corresponding numbers for 2019 were one murder, two rapes, three robberies, 69 aggravated assaults, 84 burglaries, 118 larcenies and 19 vehicles thefts.
Overall, Jefferson County law enforcement agencies registered a clearance rate of 45.7 percent per 100 offenses in 2020, versus a 42.2 percent clearance rate in 2019. The clearance rate refers to cases solved and resulting in arrests and charges.
Two caveats to keep in mind in terms of the statistics: one is that the percentages can be misleading, as given the county’s small population, the slightest difference in activity can translate into a significant percentage change one way or the other; the second is that not all law-enforcement agencies across the state report their crimes equally or consistently.
That said, no matter the percentages or numbers, any crime is one too many to the victims.
The FDLE report shows a total of 346 index crimes committed locally in 2020, 229 of them occurring in the county, 107 in the city and 10 in areas under the state’s jurisdiction.
The 229 crimes in the unincorporated area that the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) handled break down into five rapes, 88 aggravated assaults, 47 burglaries, 75 larcenies, and 14 motor vehicle thefts. The JCSO had a 45 percent clearance rate per 100 offenses in 2020.
The 107 crimes in the city that the Monticello Police Department (MPD) handled break down into one rape, 14 aggravated assaults, 24 burglaries, 67 larcenies and one motor vehicle theft. The MPD had a 42.1 percent clearance rate per 100 offenses in 2020.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) handled 10 of the 346 index crimes, which break down into four aggravated assaults, three larcenies and three motor vehicle thefts. The FHP had a 100 percent clearance rate.
All told, 309 arrests were made in Jefferson County in 2020 by the various law-enforcement agencies for all kinds of crimes, the arrestees consisting of 300 adults and nine juveniles. Of the 309 arrests, 56 were for index crimes.
In terms of the 56 arrests for index crimes, the JCSO made one arrest for murder, one for robbery, 18 for aggravated assault, seven for burglary, two for larceny and four for motor vehicle theft.
The MPD, meanwhile, made one arrest for rape, seven for aggravated assault, seven for burglary, five for larceny and one for motor vehicle theft.
The FHP’s two arrests were for aggravated assault.
The other 309 arrests were for non-index crimes such as kidnapping, simple assault, drug possession, fraud and forgery.
All told, the JCSO accounted for 196 arrests, the MPD for 47, the FHP for 45 and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for 21.
Sheriff Mac McNeill has noted in the past that the crime numbers tell only part of the story. The numbers don’t reflect the behind-the-scenes activities or ongoing investigations.
Crime also ebbs and flows, he has said, and some factors are outside of law enforcement’s control, no matter their best efforts. And sometimes, one individual can account for a rash of crimes that can skew the numbers.
That said, at the end of the day, law enforcement owns the numbers, whatever they are, McNeill has said. The numbers, moreover, provide a valuable and effective tool for fighting crime. They are used, he has said, to decide what areas to concentrate sources and what types of crimes to focus on.
The FDLE publishes the crime report semiannually and annually. It has been tracking the state’s crime statistics since 1971, making this its 50th year of reporting.