Crime became less frequent in Duval County and Florida in 2018, according to an annual Florida Department of Law Enforcement report released this week.
FDLE's 2018 Uniform Crime Report shows Duval County’s overall crime dropped 5.1% percent as compared to 2017. The murder rate remained the same at 112 murders recorded in both time periods across the county.
Statewide, the crime rate fell by 9%, marking the 48th consecutive year Florida has seen a drop in its crime rate.
"The fall of overall crime rates in 2018 is great news for all Floridians, but there’s still more work to be done," said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a statement released with the report.
St. Johns County also saw a crime drop while Clay and Nassau counties saw increases.
First Coast Crime Rates County-By-County:
DUVAL COUNTY
CLAY COUNTY
NASSAU COUNTY
ST. JOHNS COUNTY
Florida's number of homicides increased by 50 homicides, or 4.7%. The total includes the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on Valentine's Day of 2018.
"We must do everything we can to protect our citizens and visitors from senseless acts of targeted violence," said DeSantis. "I recently met with Florida's leading law enforcement officials to provide an update on the progress of the state's threat assessment strategy, which I initiated in February in a request to FDLE Commissioner Swearingen."
Overall, violent crime offenses dropped 4.2% while property crimes fell 7.9%. The crimes of robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft were also down, while murder and rape increased.
A statewide county-by-county breakdown of the crime statistics is available from the FDLE.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
