Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
For nearly five straight decades, Florida's crime rate has been steadily decreasing, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
On Friday, April 10, the FDLE released its 2019 Uniform Crime Report (UCR), an annual compilation of data that offers a relatively comprehensive snapshot of the state of crime in Florida for the previous year.
Compiled of data provided by the many law-enforcement departments across the state, the report gives a breakdown of crimes by type of offenses, age and gender of the perpetrators and the locale where the crime was committed.
“Last year, the crime rate in Florida fell by 6.3 percent, marking the 49th consecutive year that the state has seen a drop in its crime rate,” stated the FDLE's press release, underscoring that the state had seen 26,128 fewer index crimes in 2019 than in 2018.
Jefferson County, meanwhile, saw 59 fewer index crimes in 2019 than in 2018. This translates into a total of 296 index crimes in 2019, compared with 355 in 2018, a 16.9 percent decrease.
The index crimes are divided into violent and non-violent. The violent ones are murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The non-violent ones are burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
Jefferson County saw reductions in all categories of the index crimes in 2019, compared with 2018.
A breakdown of the 296 index crimes in 2019 shows one murder, two rapes, three robberies, 69 aggravated assaults, 84 burglaries, 118 larcenies and 19 motor vehicle thefts.
In 2018, the corresponding numbers were two murders, four rapes, five robberies, 74 aggravated assaults, 120 burglaries, 129 larcenies and 21 motor vehicle thefts.
Jefferson County's overall clearance rate, however, dropped slightly by comparison, from 45.1 percent in 2018, to 42.2 percent in 2019. The clearance rate is a measure of a department's solved crimes. It is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are cleared by the total number of crimes recorded.
A further differentiation of the 296 index crimes by law enforcement agencies shows that 226 were handled by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO), 66 by the Monticello Police Department (MPD), and four by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
A breakdown of the 226 index crimes that the JCSO handled shows one murder, two rapes, one robbery, 65 aggravated assaults, 61 burglaries, 82 larcenies and 14 motor vehicle thefts. The figures translate into a 23.9 percent rate reduction compared with 2018, and a 35.4 percent clearance rate per 100 offenses for the JCSO.
Meanwhile, a breakdown of the 66 index crimes handled by the MPD shows two robberies, four aggravated assaults, 23 burglaries, 35 larcenies and two motor vehicle thefts. Which translates into 16.1 percent rate increase, and a 62.1 percent clearance rate per 100 offenses for the MPD.
The FHP handled a total of four index crimes in 2019, one a larceny and the other three motor vehicle thefts. Its clearance rate was 100 percent.
All told, 522 arrests were made in Jefferson County in 2019, compared with 404 in 2018. The 522 suspects arrested consisted of 451 adults and 71 juveniles.
Of the 522 arrests, the JCSO accounted for 301, the MPD accounted for 71, and the other 150 arrests were made by agencies such as the FHP and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
In terms of the index crimes, the JCSO's 301 arrests accounted for two rapes, one robbery, 18 aggravated assaults, 15 burglaries, 16 larcenies and two motor vehicle thefts. The bulk of the non-index crime arrests made by the JCSO were for simple assault (38), drug possession (54), DUI (20) and miscellaneous offenses (95).
Meantime, the MPD's 71 arrests for index crime numbered two for robbery, four for aggravated assault, 23 for burglary, seven for larceny and one for motor vehicle theft. In terms of the non-index crime arrests, the MPD's arrests included seven for drugs and 25 for miscellaneous offenses.
The bulk of the 120 arrests made by the other agencies were largely for drug possession (72) and DUI (33).
"I am extremely proud of the men and women of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office who serve and protect our community on a daily basis,” Sheriff Mac McNeill emailed. “While the crime trends and numbers can certainly fluctuate from year to year, this goes to show that our agency's hard work and professionalism are paying off in keeping our community a safe place to live and work. I also want to thank Chief Fred Mosley for his teamwork and partnership in protecting the City of Monticello and Jefferson County. What affects one of us, affects us all. This is truly a team effort for the citizens of our county."
Police Chief Fred Mosley concurred.
“Our officers have taken an aggressive approach to complaints,” Mosley said. “Also, the information sharing with the Sheriff's Office and other surrounding agencies has helped us to combat our crime. Citizen involvement has also helped.”
Statewide, there were 541,048 index crime in 2019, versus 567,176 in 2018, a drop of 4.6 percent. A breakdown of the 2019 index crime shows 1,121 murders, 8,439 rapes, 16,199 robberies, 55,333 aggravated assaults, 63,148 burglaries, 357,828 larcenies and 38,980 motor vehicle thefts.
The annual report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on the FDLE’s website at fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/UCR-Reports.aspx.
You must be logged in to post a comment.