On Monday, Plant City Police Chief James Bradford presented the optimistic and uplifting news that criminal offenses have been on a steady decline from 2020 to 2021.
Before the Plant City City Commission, he explained the statistics that were compiled by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.
“These stats reported are reliable statistics to where we can figure out administration, operations, and management as to how we move to fight crime,” Bradford said.
A chart was on display that looked back from 2012 to see where the summation of serious offenses stood. In 2012, there was a total of 1,549 offenses that rose to 1,751 the following year.
From 2013, the numbers began to decline until 2017 where there was an uptick of 73 offenses compared to the prior year.
Since 2017, there has been a steady decline all the way to 2021 – the most recent study year, with 857 offenses in all.
According to the report, there has been a 22.4% drop in overall offenses in Plant City from 2020 to 2021.
The total number of violent offenses in 2020 went from 199 down to 175 in 2021, while the total number of property offenses went from 906 in 2020 to 682 in 2021.
Violent Crimes
The number of reported murders dropped from three to one, while the number of reported rapes dropped from six to three.
Reported robberies have also been declining from 36 incidents down to 25, and aggravated assaults reported dropped from 154 to 146.
“I’m proud to say that you have a police department that is dedicated and invested in the safety of this community,” Bradford said. “Even though the report of crime is down, this is not to say that we’re going to, for lack of a better term, rest, but we’re going to continue moving forward and try to make the quality of life (for those) that live and work here, the best it can be.”
Property Crimes
Reported burglaries went from 95 incidents down to 83.
Reported larceny dropped from 724 incidents to 527, while reported motor vehicle thefts dropped from 87 to 72.
Whether the pandemic was a factor in the dwindling numbers is uncertain, but there was already a downward trend occurring before the pandemic, Bradford said.
Plant City City Manager Bill McDaniel concurred with Bradford’s remarks on the police department striving for the best.
“I think one of the differences we have in Plant City is our officers are known in the community,” he said. “They’re not just uniforms, they’re people. I think this is a great report for everyone to hear and this information is indicative of the quality of life in our community.”
The news was praised by the city commission who credits the Plant City residents for the downward trend.
“Anytime our chief can walk in here and deliver a report where crime is down, that’s an important indicator that all our citizens who care about (this town), want to live in safe communities,” said Plant City Mayor Rick Lott. “All respect to you and all the men and women in blue. We thank you for the hard work you do. We want to make sure that we give you the funding that it takes to deliver results like this on an annual basis.”