Palm Beach Sees Drop In Some, But Not All Crime

WEST PALM BEACH, FL — Palm Beach County's top prosecutor said crime has generally declined in the weeks leading up to Monday's partial reopening of businesses but that hasn't been true for all types of offenses.

"Crime has decreased in our county since the lockdown began," State Attorney Dave Aronberg acknowledged in an interview with Patch on Monday. "There are a couple of exceptions. Car burglaries have increased and domestic violence also has experienced an uptick."

Aronberg said he is not surprised by the drop in crime. "You have people stuck in their homes with liquor stores continuing to remain open as an essential business," he said.

See: Florida Reports 40,982 Cases; Palm Beach County Partially Reopens

That may have changed Monday as Palm Beach County partially reopened its nonessential businesses, including hair salons, nail salons, restaurants and retail establishments amid social distancing and occupancy restrictions.

Miami-Dade and Broward counties are now the only two remaining counties that have yet to begin their partial reopening. Miami-Dade is tentatively expected to partially reopen on May 18 though it was not clear what the reopening might entail.

"Our county jail is at the lowest capacity it’s been since 1987," Aronberg noted. "We’ve had fewer inmates admitted to our county jail. When you go to first appearances — which is when someone gets bond or goes before a judge to get a bond after they’ve been arrested — the number of first appearance cases has gone down, but you see a larger percentage of domestic violence within the first appearances."

Aronberg also attributed the reduction in crime to the curfews that have been in place throughout the lockdown.

"Across the board everything has gone down, but that’s what happens when you’re locked down and there’s some curfews out there in certain communities," he said. "It’s harder to blend in with the general population if you are out there on the streets at night up to no good."

Even as his county reopened, Aronberg cautioned that the number of coronavirus cases in the state may be higher than the numbers reported by state health officials.

Health officials reported a total of 40,982 confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida as of Monday. The death toll stood at 1,735.

"We’re not out of the woods by a long shot," Aronberg said. "I realize the motivations for reopening. Florida cannot stay closed forever, but we have to be cautious, and not pretend that this problem is going away and we’ve already flattened the curve because neither is true."

He said state health officials only count deaths of Florida residents while excluding visitors from other states who die in Florida.

Aronberg said he is also concerned by possible underreporting of cases and deaths that occur in Florida's nursing homes and prisons.

"To this day, the coronavirus numbers from the state health department do not match the numbers provided by the nursing homes themselves," Aronberg said.