Jeff Burlew | Tallahassee Democrat

Tallahassee Democrat

Leon County had the highest crime rate in all of Florida for the fifth year in a row last year despite seeing a drop in overall offenses.

The county had 4,455.9 crimes for every 100,000 residents in 2018, which was a 7.2.% decline from 2017, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s annual Uniform Crime Report, which was released Monday. Property crimes dropped 7.8%, and violent crime dropped 6.6%.

It also marked the third straight year of crime rate declines in Leon County and the lowest overall rate the county has seen since at least 2000, when it topped out at nearly 7,000 crimes per 100,000 people.

But Leon continued to rank poorly in the state when compared to other Florida counties in several key per-capita benchmarks. It was fifth among Florida’s 67 counties in overall violent crime and second in forcible sex offenses. It was first in the state in property crimes and larceny and second in motor vehicle theft.

►BY THE NUMBERS: Compare our crime rate to the rest of the state in this interactive database

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The report showed year-over-year crime down in most of the seven major index crimes: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and vehicle theft. There were 22 murders, two fewer than in 2017. Decreases also were seen in robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and larceny. However, the number of sexual assaults went up, from 242 to 251, as did the number of motor vehicle thefts.

Overall in Florida, the crime rate fell 9 percent. Only 13 counties saw increases in the crime rate, including three in the Big Bend: Calhoun County, which saw a 3.8% uptick, Jefferson County, which saw a 17.4% rise, and Franklin County, which saw a dramatic 58.5% jump.

State Attorney Jack Campbell of the 2nd Judicial Circuit noted violent crime continued to drop, from 2,477 instances in 2015 to 1,789 last year. Across the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which consists of Leon, Liberty, Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson and Wakulla counties, the crime rate for the seven index crimes dropped 5.1 percent. Campbell said a few major factors likely contributed to Leon’s overall rate.

“It’s a reflection on us having a young community ... and it’s a reflection on the economic challenges that we have,” he said. “I think it’s a reflection on the fact that we’re kind of an (urban) island in a relatively rural section of the state. People come here to commit their crimes. I think all of those things come together.”

The most recent shooting: TPD: Barbershop shooting suspect put gun to child's head after shooting his father

Leon County’s overall clearance rate — or the percentage of crimes it solves — increased from 19.3% to 21.7%, though it lagged behind the state as a whole. Florida’s overall clearance rate edged up, from 23.4% to 25.3%.

Sheriff Walt McNeil said he’s pleased to see a drop in some of the numbers, though he said senseless shootings continue to happen too often in Tallahassee. He said there needs to be stronger cohesion between the Sheriff’s Office and the Tallahassee Police Department, including more sharing of intelligence systems.

He said he’s encouraged by efforts in mental health treatment and prisoner re-entry programs and said a children’s services council, slated for the ballot in 2020, would help fund early intervention efforts. The council would have the ability to levy its own property tax, which makes it a controversial proposition for some.

“I’m extremely hopeful in terms of the long-term impacts of this stuff,” McNeil said. “If you look at what law enforcement is supposed to do and what we’re supposed to be effective at, I think you’ll see that we’re being as effective as most communities are. We’ve got the crime rate down. We continue to drive it down.”

The new crime figures come amid upheaval at the Tallahassee Police Department, which responds to the majority of crimes in Tallahassee. Earlier this month, TPD Chief Michael DeLeo resigned after nearly six years in the post.

TPD Maj. Steve Outlaw, who will serve as interim chief as the city mounts a nationwide search for DeLeo’s successor, said that while the crime rate is still too high, it’s going in the right direction.

“We’d like to attribute that to a lot of our community programs on the prevention and intervention side as well as our enforcement side,” Outlaw said. “It’s just an indicator, but it’s a welcome indicator.”

Mayor John Dailey said he hadn’t read the FDLE report yet. But he said Outlaw would bring institutional knowledge and "new and creative" ideas on crime fighting when he takes over. Dailey also has supported early intervention efforts, including the children’s services council.

“We have to realize we will not police our way out of these hurdles," Dailey said. "It takes the entire community, and we all have a role to play.”

Statewide, violent crime dropped 5.9% and property crimes went down 9.5%. FDLE noted it was the 48th year in a row that Florida's crime rate has dropped.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a written release, applauded the decrease in crime. He also noted the importance of the state's threat assessment strategy, which FDLE is developing at the governor's request to prevent mass shootings at schools and elsewhere.

"The fall of overall crime rates in 2018 is great news for all Floridians," DeSantis said, "but there's still more work to be done. We must do everything we can to protect our citizens and visitors from senseless acts of targeted violence. My administration will continue to stand with our law enforcement personnel and move forward on key policies to protect our residents and keep our communities safe.”

Florida's murder rate jumped 4.7% — going from 1,057 in 2017 to 1,107 last year. The increase includes 17 students and staff who were killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.