Osceola sees 7.5% decrease in crime first 6 months of 2020

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  • A significant decrease in KPD’s reported crime was the assault/battery cases. The number of assault/ battery cases in 2019 was 877 compared to 723 in 2020, according to agency statistics. News-Gazette Photo/Brian McBride
    A significant decrease in KPD’s reported crime was the assault/battery cases. The number of assault/ battery cases in 2019 was 877 compared to 723 in 2020, according to agency statistics. News-Gazette Photo/Brian McBride
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After seeing an 11.4 percent increase in reported crime the first six months of 2019, the Kissimmee Police Department saw a significant reversal in that trend the same period in 2020.

The statistics were part of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s recently released semi-annual report that listed calls for service between January and June of 2020. The crime categories include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Across Osceola County, there was a 7.5 percent decrease in reported crime, compared to a 5.5 increase the same time in 2019.

The Osceola County Sheriff ’s Office reported a 8.6 decrease the first six months this year after experiencing a 5.5 percent increase in 2019. It’s total crime index numbers fell from 2,576 to 2,354. Rape calls fell from 48 to 37 and larceny calls dropped from 1,723 to 1,463.

But it was KPD that saw the largest turnaround after posting a 7.8 percent drop in reported crime this year, compare to the 11.4 percent hike in 2019.

“The Kissimmee Police Department is proud of all the efforts of our men and women that directly contributed to the turnaround of crime stats from the first six months of 2019 to 2020,” a Kissimmee Police Department spokesperson said.

A significant decrease in KPD’s reported crime was the assault/battery cases. The number of assault/ battery cases in 2019 was 877 compared to 723 in 2020, according to agency statistics.

“These types of cases are difficult to prevent, but the consistent presence of our uniformed personnel and personal interaction with our citizens was a major factor in the decrease in those numbers,” the spokesperson said. “We also attribute the decrease of all our reported crime to our continued partnerships we have with our community, the use of intelligence led policing and the dedicated work of every member of our agency.”

The crime index number for KPD dropped from 1,138 in 2019 compared to 1,049 this year.

Going forward in 2021, the Kissimmee Police Department will analyze crime on a weekly and monthly basis.

“A priority we will be working on in 2021 is communicating with our businesses, homeowner associations and faith-based community leaders to spread the message to encourage our residents and visitors to lock their vehicles, place items of value and recent purchases out of sight from others and to remove the vehicle keys/ fobs from inside the vehicle in order to reduce vehicle burglaries and vehicle thefts,” the spokesperson said.

The St. Cloud Police Department saw a slight .09 percent uptick in reported crime from the first six months of 2019 to 2020. The crime index number went up from 351 to 354.

“There are many factors that may’ve contributed to the minimal increase of 0.9 percent in the FDLE’s 2020 semi-annual crime report. Our community is growing very rapidly which may be one of the major factors to consider,” said St. Cloud Police Department Sgt. Jose Nater.

Last year, due to COVID-19, the police department launched its online reporting system, which allowed more people to easily report criminal activity while eliminating face-to-face contact with an officer.

“As the New Year progresses, the St. Cloud Police Department will remain committed to thoroughly investigating any and all incidents reported to us,” Nater said.

The crime-clearance rate for all three agencies were: Sheriff’s Office (33.4 percent); St. Cloud Police Department (22 percent); Kissimmee Police Department (16.7 percent).

The report showed that crime was down across Florida, with crime volume dropping 11.7 percent, or 31,348 fewer reported index crimes, compared to the first six months of 2019.

The report, including county-by-county breakdowns, can be found on FDLE’s website at http:// www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/ Uniform-Crime-Report/ Semi-Annual-Reports.