Florida has seen fewer crimes so far in 2011 than last year.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's semi-annual crime report, total crime in the state from January to June declined 2 percent from levels a year ago.
Violent crime, which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, is down 3.2 percent for the state. Nonviolent crime, which includes burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft, is down 1.8 percent overall.
The only individual crime to show an increase was forcible sex offenses, with a statewide increase of 1.1 percent.
Results from Alachua County mirrored this trend.
In the county, total crime was down 7.7 percent for the first half of 2011. From January to June 2010 there were 5,379 reported crimes; in 2011, there have been 4,966.
The number of burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts decreased countywide as the number of nonviolent crimes fell 9.9 percent.
The county saw the number of violent crimes increase by 5.7 percent.
The number of murders remained the same, but there were three more forcible rapes, five more robberies and 35 more aggravated assaults than this period last year.
Lt. Art Adkins, spokesman for the Gainesville Police Department, said the increase in violent crimes is "disheartening," but police are working to be proactive and to educate students and community members about safety.
The county's overall decrease in crime, however, is something to be proud of, Adkins said, noting the figure is better than the state's average.
He credits the decreases in nonviolent crimes to the city's emphasis on information-led policing - GPD's policy that distributes daily statistical crime data to the entire staff, allowing it to quickly identify crime patterns and tailor crime-fighting plans to the needs of the community.
Sgt. Todd Kelly of the Alachua County Sheriff's Office said the community also plays an active role in crime prevention.
The ASO has been focusing on community-oriented policing this year, Kelly said, putting the same deputies in the same zones every day so they can get to know their areas and the people who live and work in them.
Alachua County also saw an improvement in the clearance rate, or the percentage of cases closed - up from 29 percent to 32.1 percent.
Kelly said he credits the department's emphasis on developing a rapport with the community members with playing a major part in this improvement.
People are now able to report crime tips online through the ASO's Facebook page and website, Kelly said, and many deputies give out their cellphone numbers to residents in their zones, so they get crime tips directly.
"It takes a lot more than law enforcement to make these kind of improvements happen," he said. "It takes the whole community."
