Report: Crime rose in state during first half of 2007

Growth was not accounted for, so the crime rate might not be up.

TALLAHASSEE - The number of crimes committed in Florida edged up slightly in the first half of 2007, bucking a years-long trend of declining crime in the state, according to a report released Friday.

Violent crime, which had already shifted upward in recent years, continued that troubling trend, increasing in Florida by 2 percent in the first half of the year over the first half of 2006, said statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The number of murders - particularly those committed with guns - had one of the largest increases this year. Through the end of June, there were 589 murders in Florida, a 13.7 percent increase over the 518 reported in the state in the first half of 2006.

The number of murders committed with a gun jumped from 340 in the first half of 2006 to 407 in the first half of 2007, a 19.7 percent increase, the figures showed.

Overall, the number of crimes tracked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state law enforcement officials went up 3.9 percent in the first half of the year, the FDLE said. The list of crimes that are tracked ranges widely, from murder and rape to less serious crimes like stealing bicycles or change out of vending machines.

The number of crimes considered violent - a very small percentage of all crimes - went from 63,712 in the first half of 2006 to 65,011 in the first half of 2007, the data showed.

The data, released with little comment near the end of the day Friday, doesn't take into account changes in population - which are hard to track. That means that some of the increase in the absolute number of crimes could be explained, at least in part, by continued growth in the number of people in Florida.

Federal officials estimate that Florida's population grew by about 300,000 people from 2005 to 2006, but estimates for the current year aren't yet available, making it difficult to see whether the rate of crimes has changed in Florida - as opposed to just the number of crimes.

Still, the new data reverses a long downward trend that had officials crowing in recent years that Florida's crime rate had dropped to its lowest in three decades. For example, the number of crimes reported in the first half of 2006 in Florida was 0.3 percent lower than the number in the first half of 2005, which was more than 3 percent lower than in the first half of 2004. And those decreases came in spite of increasing population in the state.

The increase in murders was first noticed last year - with a 27 percent increase in the first six months of 2006 over the first half of 2005.

Florida's shift to increasing numbers of crimes mirrors a new national trend. Violent crime rose nearly 2 percent in the country last year, according to the FBI. The number of murders was also up just under 2 percent last year - but murders spiked last year in big cities in America, increasing nearly 7 percent.

Florida officials, led by Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum, have said they're concerned about increases in gang activity and pledged to crack down on it. A statewide grand jury has been set up to look at that problem.

There was some good news in the statistics released Friday, including a small drop in the number of domestic violence offenses and decreases in the number of some sex offenses. The number of rapes, for example, was more than 7 percent lower this year.

[Last modified November 3, 2007, 00:40:55]