Polk County Sees Overall Drop In Crime

LAKELAND, FL — Crime was down in Polk County last year by 5.9 percent in areas covered by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office reported 415 fewer crimes overall in 2018 but some violent crimes like murder and rape saw an upswing in incidents.

The figures primarily reflect unincorporated areas of Polk County and cities that have contracted with the sheriff's office for police protection, including Polk City, Frostproof, Eagle Lake, Fort Meade, Dundee and Mulberry. It also includes the town of Hillcrest Heights as well as the village of Highland Park.

"Don't mess with success. The rules in place have created the opportunity for a low crime rate," explained sheriff Grady Judd. "I hope our legislators are paying attention to this statewide trending low crime rate and will acknowledge that putting the right people in prison is key."

Judd attributed the overall decline to a partnership between the community and law enforcement. "I'm very proud of our deputies and their crime reduction efforts last year," Judd added.

According to statistics released by the Polk County Sheriff's Office:

• There were 6,642 crimes in 2018, as compared to 7,057 in 2017, a total reduction in reported crimes of 5.9 percent. The seven measured crime categories include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

• Murders rose from 11 in 2017 to 15 in 2018.
• Rape increased from 81 in 2017 to 83 in 2018.
• Robbery dropped from 133 in 2017 to 100 in 2018.
• Aggravated assault rose from 981 in 2017 to 1,007 in 2018.
• Burglary dropped from 1,475 in 2017 to 1,196 in 2018.
• Larceny dropped from 3,790 in 2017 to 3,677 in 2018.
• Motor Vehicle Theft declined from 586 in 2018 to 564 in 2018.

Polk County's crime rate in the unincorporated areas and contract cities (for which the Polk County Sheriff's Office is responsible) also dropped with respect to the number of crimes per 100 residents.

That number was down from 1.64 crimes per 100 residents in 2017 to 1.52 crimes in 2018.

"This is the lowest crime rate ever measured in PCSO's jurisdiction, breaking the previous record low of 1.64 crimes per 100 from last year," said the sheriff's office. That amounts to a decline of 7.3 percent from 2017 to 2018.

Reliable crime statistics in Polk County date back to 1971, when the crime rate was first recorded at 4.16 crimes per 100 residents.

"Since 1997, the crime rate in Polk County has fallen by 77.2 percent," the sheriff's office said. "In 2018, the Polk/PCSO crime rate was 49 percent less than the most recently release Florida state crime rate in 2017 (1.52 compared to 2.99)."

Photo courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office