QuoteJacksonville loses murder crown
Posted: April 26, 2011 - 2:52pm
After 11 years at the top of a dubious list as the state’s murder capital, Duval County’s murder rate is no longer the disdain of Jacksonville.
Figures released Tuesday by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show Miami-Dade now has that crown, with a rate of 9.03 murders per 100,000 people. Duval is second by a slim margin at a rate of 8.98 murders per 100,000 among counties of 500,000 or more.
The number of murders in Duval County dropped from 101 in 2009 to 81 in 2010, according to the annual report.
The statistics were part of an overall crime report that saw a 6.7 percent drop in crime in the past year, which Gov. Rick Scott touted as the 40-year low. Violent crimes â€" murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault â€" were down by 10.1 percent while nonviolent burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts were down 6 percent in the state.
In Duval County, overall crime was down 12.2 percent, nearly double the state rate. While rapes were up, robberies and aggravated batteries dropped along with murders. Burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts also were down.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford said the city’s numbers were falling throughout the year. In the consolidated county, Jacksonville’s crime statistics make up the vast majority of those reported.
“In the end we wound up significantly down,†Rutherford said several days before the state report was released.
Though it is still too early for a trend to develop, Rutherford said he is seeing a continuing decline in crime this year.
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-04-26/story/jacksonville-loses-murder-crown#ixzz1KgM7YGBE
Source: The Florida Times-Union (http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-04-26/story/jacksonville-loses-murder-crown)