Chris Jones: Greene Publishing, Inc.
The 2016 Annual Uniform Crime Report, which contains index crimes “known to, and reported by, law enforcement agencies for 2016,” was recently released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Index crimes include violent offenses (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) and property offenses (burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft).
It reports that overall crime in Madison County decreased from 2015 to 2016. However, the clearance rate dropped as well, from 48.1 percent to 39.1 percent. Typically, an offense is “cleared” when either an arrest is made or the victim signs an affidavit for non-prosecution. Even with a nine percent drop in the clearance rate, Madison County, which includes the Madison County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), City of Madison Police Department (MPD), and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), is well above the State of Florida rate, which is only 25 percent.
According to the report, 596 index offenses were committed in Madison County in 2016, dropping 7.3 percent from the previous year's tally of 643. Statewide, the decrease was 4.6 percent, from 53,893 total offenses in 2015 to 51,425 in 2016. A breakdown of the 596 local crimes in 2016 versus 2015 shows two were murder, the same as 2015; nine were rapes, up from six in 2015; five were robberies, compared with nine in the previous year; 157 were aggravated assaults, compared with 186 in 2015; 168 were burglaries, 10 more than the previous year; 247 were larcenies, compared with 279 in 2015; and eight were motor vehicle thefts, compared with three in the previous year.
Of the 596 offenses, the MCSO handled 366, representing an index change of -5.7 percent, and the MPD handled 226, an index change of -10.7 percent. The FHP handled four motor vehicle thefts in the county. Also noted in the report is that Madison County's population increased from 19,200 in 2015 to 19,238 in 2016.
The state figures show crime has been steadily declining over the last five years, from 359,051 in 2012 to 314,647 2016. Violent crimes have also been decreasing, from 46,881 in 2012 to 44,972 2016. There has also been a drop in property crimes, from 312,170 in 2012 to 269,675 in 2016.