Since Florida has a huge influx of residents who have moved from out of state and chosen to stay in the Sunshine State, it can’t all be #FloridaMan’s fault…Can it?

Here at WeirdFloridaNews.com, our goal is to share many of the “weird” stories about the Sunshine State.

Many of those stories, unfortunately, involve crime and, in particular, crimes committed by the real life phenomenon known as ‘Florida Man.”

However, the crime rates in Florida are 16 percent higher than the national median.

And, relatedly, the incarceration rates are 20 percent higher than the national average, according to the Marguerite Casey Foundation.

Florida has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. And while many still defend the policies that create those rates, there is a growing consensus that reform is needed.

There are nearly 100,000 people locked up, according to a 2018 study from the Crime and Justice Institute in Boston commissioned by the Florida Senate. Per capita, that means the state’s incarceration rate is 20 percent higher than the national average. And even though the crime rate has dropped in the last generation, the state’s long prison sentences and lack of parole keep a lot of people locked up.

Florida’s incarceration rate of 960 per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average of 890, the Florida Policy Institute found. And that rate has almost doubled since 2005, when the state had 492 inmates per 100,000 residents.

So, while we may poke fun at #FloridaMan and his facially-tattooed antics here at WeirdFloridaNews.com, the underlying seriousness of crime on the streets of Florida is very real.