Crime & Safety
Is Crime Up in Sarasota? See the Latest Statistics
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Department releases crime statistics for the first half of 2013.
Major and violent crimes are down in Sarasota County.
That is the good news from Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, who announced Monday that crime is down 10 percent in the first half of 2013. (See accompanying report.)
Both major crimes and violent crimes dropped from January to June 2013. For example, the number of murders dropped from eight to two for January-June 2013 compared to the same period for 2012.
Find out what's happening in Sarasotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Here are the categories with the most significant declines:
- Murder: down 75%
- Burglary: down 21%
- Grand Theft: down 11%
- Robbery: down 28%
- Auto Theft: down 14%
According to the sheriff's office:
Find out what's happening in Sarasotawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"The decrease for the first six months of 2013 follows an overall decline of more than 16 percent in 2012 and a 21 percent drop in crime since Sheriff Knight took office in 2009."
Share your thoughts about Sarasota's crime rate. Do you feel the county is making strides in crime reduction, as reflected in the statistics? Let us know in the comments below.
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