Sarasota County Sees Crime Reduction in 2016

                                                                                                              NEWS RELEASE #: 17-022 - JANUARY 30, 2017

Sheriff Tom Knight is pleased to report that crime in unincorporated Sarasota County was down again in 2016 compared to the prior year.

Major crimes known as Part I Offenses in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Index decreased more than seven percent and total offenses are down six percent compared to 2015. Violent crime dropped more than nine percent and remains low with 451 reported cases county-wide. Burglary was down more than 18 percent.

In 2016, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office made 8,607 total arrests and responded to 93,992 calls for service, which is an increase of more than five percent from the previous year.

"This decrease in crime speaks volumes about our workforce as well as our partnerships within the community," said Sheriff Tom Knight. "We credit strong ties to our citizens and flexibility in staffing that allows immediate deployment of manpower to address crime issues in real-time. Although crime is down, our calls for service continue to increase and are attributable to quality of life issues including everyday neighborhood and noise complaints, requests to speak with a deputy, and an array of other day-to-day concerns. As a full-service agency, not only are we working to prevent victims but we are also addressing mental health, addiction, and other non-crime-related challenges."

Since Sheriff Knight took office in 2009, violent crime is down nearly 40 percent and Part I Offenses are down nearly 47 percent.

To see the full report visit www.SarasotaSheriff.org and under the Public Interest tab click Crime & Crash Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, December 2016.