Sarasota Crime Rate Reaches 20-Year Low

Sign up for the Sarasota Patch newsletter!

Numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigations signal good news in Sarasota’s battle against crime.

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program statistics, serious crime has dropped to a 20-year low within the city limits. Serious crimes, categorized as “Part I” crimes by the FBI dropped 8.6 percent in 2014 alone. Part I crimes include homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, motor vehicle theft, arson and burglary.

The Sarasota Police Department submits local crime statistics each year to the FBI for its annual report. A thorough review of the annual reports from the last two decades revealed “a significant downward trend in serious crime,” a media release from the police department stated.

“When I joined the Sarasota Police Department in 2013, my ultimate goal was earning trust and reducing crime in our community through partnership policing,” Chief Bernadette DiPino was quoted in the release as saying. “These numbers are a reflection of our community working together. We can’t do it alone as police, we need the eyes and ears of residents and visitors.”

The Sarasota Police Department fielded 72,683 calls for service in 2014 and made 5,484 arrests. Since DiPino took the department’s helm in January 2013, Part I crimes are down 13.2 percent in total, according to the agency.

To find out more about the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, visit the federal agency’s website.

How do you think Sarasota is doing in the crime department? Share your opinions by commenting below!

Image via Shutterstock