Move to Florida. Murder rates are lower now that they allow citizens to carry weapons concealed. Ask your buddy John.
Hey, I am all for you bubbas carrying guns. Go for it!
Now that more people in FLA have guns, less of them are killed.
Tim, when are you going to learn that you are being mislead. Harris lives in Arkansas and thinks he has a dream. I wouldn't pay too much attention to shut outs........Harris stopped working with the facts a long time ago.
FBI: Murder rate soars in Orlando
Booming population, social problems and an influx of gangs are blamed.
Henry Pierson Curtis, Mark K. Matthews and Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted December 19, 2006
Murders surged in cities across Florida in the first half of the year, but nowhere as much as in Orlando, according to a report released Monday by the FBI.
The city's murder rate more than tripled from January through June, compared with the first six months of 2005.
Other violent crimes spiked as well. Orlando posted the third-biggest jump in rapes and robberies among the state's 10 largest cities and had the largest increase in arsons, according to the report.
The city tied Miami, which has nearly twice the population, with the second-largest number of murders -- 30 -- in Florida. Only Jacksonville, which is nearly four times bigger, had more: 70.
Orlando has since shattered its all-time record for murders, reaching 46 after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old late Friday. There were 22 murders in all of 2005.
City and law-enforcement officials say Orlando is part of a larger trend. Boston and St. Louis, for example, have watched their murder rates rise, too.
But other cities have seen declines, according to the FBI report. Pittsburgh, Albuquerque and Oklahoma City, which are two to three times larger than Orlando, tallied as few as 12 killings and no more than 23 through June.
Three factors are behind Orlando's crime surge: a population boom, deep-rooted social problems and an influx of gang members from other cities, said U.S. Marshal Tom Hurlburt, the agency's top official in this area.
"It's not just one thing going on here," said Hurlburt, who served as head of Orange County Public Safety and was Orlando police chief.
Violence, he said, must be countered by targeting suspects with outstanding warrants because most violent crime "is committed by people already wanted. You can't blame any part of the country or any part of the world. We run the gambit here."
The numbers drew a sharp response from two local members of Congress, who said the federal government must reinvest in a neglected program --Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS -- which provides funding to add police officers.
"This is crucial," Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, said of funding for the program. "Community policing works."
Rep. Ric Keller, R-Orlando, said the crime increase "causes me great concern for the safety of people in Orlando and the potential negative impact on tourism."
Rapes increased 21 percent to 82 during the first half of the year, ranking Orlando statewide behind only Jacksonville, where there were 91 rapes, and Tallahassee with 84, according to the report. Some other large cities fared much better, with Miami, New Orleans and Pittsburgh reporting no more than 50 rapes each.
"I'm really surprised" about Orlando's numbers, said Julie Smith of Orange County's Sexual Assault Treatment Center. "We have not noticed an increase in rapes per se, but we have noticed an increase in the violence level in rapes."
Robberies, which jumped 28 percent to 673, became the focus of police action in the spring.
That's when small groups of armed teenagers began striking late at night in April along Kirkman Road near Metro West and north of downtown in Rosemont.
By midsummer, roving details of police officers began stopping and questioning anyone hanging out on street corners or cruising slowly through Parramore and other neighborhoods in west Orlando.
Police Chief Mike McCoy reorganized the Police Department to create several "tactical squads" assigned full-time to identify hot spots and put more police in those areas. McCoy could not be reached for comment Monday.
After the city broke its annual murder record in August with the 37th killing, Mayor Buddy Dyer created the Safe Orlando Task Force. Previously, law-enforcement and community officials did not have a coordinated approach to the problem, said Stanley Stone, who runs the task force.
"Everybody left it up to law enforcement," Stone said. Now that churches, nonprofit organization, and businesses leaders are working on crime reduction, he said, there's a better chance the community will see results.
Dyer's staff and others, in fact, predicted a decline in violent crime when the FBI reports on the year's second half.
"Mayor Dyer and the City Council are committed to making Orlando a safe city," said Brie Turek, the mayor's spokeswoman.
Increases in violent crime come as little surprise to many crime experts who have been tracking the problem for more than a year. This summer, the Police Executive Research Forum, a group of the nation's most powerful law-enforcement leaders, held a summit on violent crime.
Youth crimes and repeat offenders are driving the latest cycle of violence, said Joshua Ederheimer, an expert with the research forum. FBI officials would not comment on a reason for the increase.
Forum experts recommend a full community response, from schools to prisons to local police departments. "It's not just a police problem," Ederheimer said.
David A. Damron of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at 407-420-5257 or hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com. Mark K. Matthews can be reached at mmatthews@orlandosentinel.com or 202-824-8222. Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5171.
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