This year’s Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) uniform crime report (UCR) shows a significant decrease in crime for Columbia County.
Yearly, the Sheriff’s Office sends its crime information to Tallahassee, where FDLE makes a report and sends it to the FBI in Washington, DC. The statistics are compiled and used to track crime trends so sheriffs and law enforcement administrators can evaluate a myriad of issues such as personnel deployment and manpower allocations.
The crime index numbers (crimes reported) for CCSO in the unincorporated areas show an 18.1% decrease from 2017. This in itself is great news; however another highlight is CCSO’s case closure rate, which is 34.1% with the state average being 25.3%.
Yearly stats are a snapshot; however success is measured over years. Over the last 10 years, there has been a steady decline in crime. In 2008 the Sheriff’s Office reported 1694 index crimes in the unincorporated area (3010 total in county) and in 2018 that numbers fell to 992 (2107 total in county).
“These are great numbers, but behind each number is a victim. We are committed to doing everything in our power to protect our community and lessen the chance one of our citizens becomes a statistic!” Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “I’m proud of where we are, but we are not going to relax. From the deputies on the road and in the jail to the administrative and support personnel in the office, we will continue working to keep our community safe.”
