Crime incident reports produced by the Tallahassee Police Department, and released on a daily basis, show that through the first 8 months of 2024 violent crime incidents are down 13.8% when compared to the same period during 2023. Property crimes are down 4.0%.
Property crimes encompass burglaries, thefts, and incidents of vandalism. Violent incidents include aggravated assaults, armed robberies, and physical altercations.
Total crime incidents in 2024 are down 7.3% year-to-date (YTD) when compared to 2023.
More promising are recent trends. Over the last eight weeks violent crime incidents are down 34.8%.
City officials told TR that the TPD incident reports are unofficial and subject to revision but also indicated that the numbers are consistent with the feelings on the street – violent crime has been trending down.
The Downturn
What has triggered the down double-digit downturn in violent crime?
While violent crime is down nationally, the disaggregrated numbers show that violent crime in cities varies greatly. For example, one report on crime found the combined average homicide rate for a sample of 29 cities was 2% lower in the first half of 2024 than in the same period in 2019. However, the overall decline was driven by large drops in cities with traditionally high homicide rates, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Two-thirds of the sample cities (19 out of 29) actually had homicide rates that were higher in the first half of 2024 than in 2019.