Leon County Ranks #1 in Crime Rate Again

Leon County Ranks #1 in Crime Rate Again

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement released crime data for 2016 and Leon County leads the state of Florida in crime rate for the third year in a row. The crime rate per 100,000 residents increased by 6.8% over 2015 numbers.

The total crime rate in the state of Florida fell by 4.4% and also fell in 41 of the state’s 67 counties.

The good news for Leon County is the violent crime rate fell 11% from a rate of 829.7 to a rate of  734.2. The state violent crime rate fell 3.5% from a rate of 455.3 to a rate of 439.2.

The violent crime rate includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

TR is evaluating the violent crime state ranking. Preliminary analysis shows Leon County ranks #1 in violent crime rate for counties with a population above 50,000.

The ten counties with the highest total crime rate are shown below. Source can viewed here.


Also, listed below is the detail of crime statistics for Leon County. It must be noted that when FDLE separated out reporting law enforcement jurisdictions, the Tallahassee Police Department reported a 9.0% increase in the crime rate while the Leon County Sheriff’s Department reported a .7% increase in the crime rate.


Tallahassee Reports has previously published stories about Tallahassee having the highest per capita crime rate in the state of Florida in 2014 and 2015. Those reports can be read here and here.

Check back for updates.

21 Responses to "Leon County Ranks #1 in Crime Rate Again"

    1. Hey Steve:
      How about an LEO-sourced article addressing the growth of gangs in Tallahassee? Perhaps you could publish it a day or two before the first debate among the Democratic gubernatorial candidates?

      Remember: Sheriff Larry used to say we didn’t have gangs in Tallahassee, just “loosely-knit associations.” I hear now we’ve got Crips and Bloods.

  1. How many years of data do we need to see before “someone” decides to tackle the problem? It’s really a no brainer that most of the crime occurs in the city limits within maybe a 5 mile radius of downtown or in specific areas, and I’m sure the police chief knows exactly where most of it happens. Start by targeting those areas with good community policing practices with zero tolerance for gang activities. So what are they waiting for? This is what irks me about most public servants…no one ever steps up and takes responsibilty to get the right things done until a trajedy happens…then they start pointing the finger of blame to anyone else but them.

  2. Here is a simple question: At one point does putting all these new law enforcement officers onto the street have a demonstrable effect on crime, if it does at all? A couple of years ago, TPD got a federal grant to add more LEO’s and, if I recall correctly, the city commission added a comparable number as “match.” Practically speaking, they require time to hire, train, and develop. How long is that: one, two, three years? More? At some point, so the theory goes, putting more LEOs onto the streets reduces crime. So, at what point do all these new LEOs start reducing crime?

    1. That should be, “at what point” not “at one point” although we should expect some positive result “at some point.”

      1. Curtis, in my opinion, this actually has much more to do with decisions City Commissioners (and the then Mayor John Marks) made years ago. Policies, ordinances, etc. If you look you will find politically correct driven decisions which have hampered LEOs for years. Consider the UK…law enforcement is there, but if they are not armed due to policy decisions there is just so much they can do.

    2. “A couple of years ago, TPD got a federal grant to add more LEOs”
      Federal grants to add officers are Trojan horse tax increases. The recent proposal paid the salary (or part of it) for 3 years. In police work, there is a minimum 25 year work career. Who pays for the remaining 22? The local taxpayers.

      This system is appealing since “someone else” is paying for them (actually as with ALL federal grants WE are paying for them via several layers of bureaucracies). The fact is when the federal “free money” runs out, cities either lay off cops or increase taxes. I saw that happen in the 90’s under a similar program.


      That varies by the officer and agency. Academy training may take 6 months, followed by field training of 2-3 months or more. Some people are not cut out for police work and require more training, while others do fairly well and need less training. IMO, it takes a couple of years to develop police patrol skills. You learn the job faster in busier areas such as Miami.

  3. Truth and Angela,

    Percentages are percentages. Yes percentage wise you or your property would be safer in Miami or Jacksonville. I have lived here my entire life and it is more dangerous than ever.

  4. Tallahassee Reports let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of TR but in my opinion this article could use some clarification. You are comparing apples to oranges Tallahassee being the apple and Miami being the orange. Yes we are all fruit but we are not the same and of course our rate will be higher when it’s calculated in the manner that it is…for example if you have two people in your town and one of them commits a crime you have a 50% crime rate. That is the way these numbers read and a little perspective on population dynamics in other counties would go along way. This article makes you feel as if we should all stay in our homes and guard ourselves or implies that we would somehow be safer in Miami, Jax, et all, when in reality that’s not the way it is! Yes there are some bad areas but that’s anywhere. These numbers do not show the bigger picture and incites fear!!

    1. This has been unfolding for years and TR could not be more accurate in their reporting.When you have city/county commissioners and a state representative fraudulently serving their districts and not living in their districts, but saying they do, a prior incompetent corrupt sheriff by which the Tallahassee Editor Bob Gabordi was covering it up and promoting the sheriff ad nauseam, the Chamber of Commerce having pool parties in Sandestin and Amelia Island at taxpayers expense, a payout to commissioner’s wife for a fall, a mayor with a job in Washington DC and running his campaign email fundraising list at the taxpayers expense, airport board appointees that do nothing but advertise their law firms with big pictures of themselves in the TSA area, the city manager who hires his brother in law for junkets to Manhattan…raises to themselves…tipsy taxi trolleys, then Houston we have a problem, but to name a few of the glaring corruptions! I would say the Chamber of Commerce needs to be cleaned up and how Sue Dick as been able to get away with shilling to the USUAL SUSPECTS rather than serving businesses is one question that needs serious consideration. All I can say is voters and businesses need to wake up.

      1. Spot on Hope, except for the part about Gabordick propping up Larry. Campbell told me to my face that Bob could kiss his a–. He did not care for him one bit – had no respect for him because he knew he was two-faced. I thought that was hilariously observant.

    2. “our rate will be higher when it’s calculated in the manner that it is”
      That’s factually incorrect. These rates are standardized per 100K citizens. That method is used so as to compare cities or areas of varying population. Of course using an unrealistic number like 2 would skew the data (cities played that percentage game with red light camera crash data- they had 3 one year and 2 the next, so instead of reporting a decrease of 1, they would report a 33% reduction- that is not a proper rate calculation). In the case of Dade vs Leon, the actual population numbers are:
      Dade: 2,700,794
      Leon: 287,671

      If you look at similar population counties such as St. Lucie (292,826), Leon still comes out far higher as to rate, 5,655 vs 1,880. St. Lucie had one more homicide than Leon in 2016, but far fewer property crimes. Since the FDLE uses the overall number, these property crimes greatly affect the end result.

      The 100K formula can be seen here:

    1. No, you simply do not know how to read statistics. The numbers, which come from FDLE, are based on crime numbers per citizen. They are what they are and it is embarrassing. The City’s PC policies have caught up to it. The “Mayor” has presided over two number one rankings in violent crime and now number one in over-all crime. Well done, Mayor and Commissioners!

  5. No surprises here! Can’t have a proactive law enforcement here. Sheeple libtards can ride bikes to the park and walk their dogs crapping everywhere outside their own yards whilst the clueless owners don’t pick it up. Real policing would show the real problems until they got resolved, oh yeah the statistics would go up, can’t have that. Keep bussing in homeless and thugs from around the state to Tallahassee. I am personally tired of wasting my hard earned money on MoRon’s, crooks, and Southside ghettos that don’t pay their taxes without consequences. Want to investigate something, find the holes in tax receipts from southside.

  6. it is hard to think of leon county as anything but a corrupt little town with a ridiculous crime rate. the most expensive city government in the state for comparable cities. hidden taxes like a fire dept. fee on your water bill [about 17$ a month]. and now a delusional mayor that thinks running this town for a half term qualifies him for governor.

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