Key West, Monroe County crime rates drop in 2014

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Local and county law enforcement officers pushed crime rates down in 2014, according to their year-end reports to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

 

In Key West, Police Chief Donie Lee reported that the overall crime rate dropped by 8.3 percent last year, led by a reduction in burglaries, which fell 13 percent in 2014 over 2013. Total reported burglaries last year were 229, compared to 264 in 2013.

 

Of those 299 burglaries in Key West, over half – 165 – showed no evidence of forced entry. And only 45 of the total showed definitive signs of forced entry. In a statement, Lee said crime prevention often begins at home.

 

“I’m happy with the fact that crime dropped by over 8 percent last year, but I think we, as a community, could do better. I’m convinced a lot of these burglaries could have been be prevented. We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out the fact that a simple locked door could have prevented many of these burglaries,” Lee said.

 

In Monroe County, Sheriff Rick Ramsay reported that crime dropped in his region by 5.9 percent in 2014 as compared to the previous year. As in Key West, the county decline was led by a decrease in burglaries, from 302 in 2013 to 257 last year.

 

“I believe the hard work of our deputies and the close working relationship we have with the community we serve is responsible for the crime rate continuing to decrease,” Ramsay said in a press release. “I think we are on the right track with our community initiatives and there is no reason why this downward trend in crime cannot continue into the future if we all work hard together.”

 

The case clearance rate, the percentage of reported crimes solved or closed because the perpetrator cannot be arrested because of death or extradition denials, rose slightly in both Key West and Monroe County. In Monroe County, the clearance rate essentially stayed the same, rising from 29.7 percent in 2013 to 29.8 percent. In Key West, the case clearance rate rose slightly from 21.7 percent to 22 percent in 2014.

 

“Our officers are working in partnership with the community, working to stop crime before it happens. That partnership is also instrumental in helping solve crimes,” Chief Lee said in his statement.

 

Breaking the annual crime report down further, there were three more robberies in Key West last year, bringing the total to 40 in 2014. Aggravated assaults were up as well, from 122 in 2013 to 141 in 2014. But incidents of reported rape dropped 25 percent, from 20 in 2013 to 14 last year. And thefts from vehicles fell from 139 to 101 last year.

 

There have been no murders in Key West since 2012, when a single murder case was reported.

 

In Monroe County, forced sex assaults fell from 23 to 17 year over year. And aggravated assaults dropped from 172 to 149.

 

Every year the Key West Police Department and Monroe County Sheriff’s Department reports their crime statistics to the state Department of Law Enforcement. The state then complies statistics for the entire state in its Uniform Crime Reporting system.

 

 

 

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