TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that as of 2021, crime in the state had reached a 50-year low, dropping 8.3% since 2020.
The department said that was nearly 40,000 fewer crimes reported.
FDLE’s annual crime report “covers the calendar year of 2021 and shows Florida’s total crime volume dropped 8.3%, or 38,524 fewer reported index crimes, compared to 2020.”
While both violent and property crimes decreased in 2021, and FDLE said domestic violence rates had also fallen, the statistics they report showed that one type of crime had increased year-over-year and by double digits.
Rape statistics from 2020 to 2021 rose nearly 14%. By comparison, the number of rape offenses reported in FDLE’s data from 2019 to 2020 had fallen by 9.3%.
From 2020 to 2021, the number of rapes in Florida increased by 1,045. The state’s annual Uniform Crime Report: Crime in Florida Abstract showed the majority of the reported rapes involved hands, fists, and feet. For that category of rape, the FDLE report showed an increase of 15.3%, while rapes involving a firearm or knife decreased by 1.8% and 4.4%, respectively.
Regarding domestic violence specifically, rapes occurring as part of acts of domestic violence increased 4.6%, while aggravated stalking in a domestic violence situation increased 10.2% in 2021.
In the 2019 to 2020 comparison, domestic violence-related rape offenses had fallen 5.1% in the previous report, though aggravated stalking had increased by 32% in 2020.
From 2020 to 2021, here’s how the rape statistics break down by the victims’ relationship with the offenders who raped them, according to Florida’s crime data.
| Total | Spouse | Parent | Child | Sibling | Other Family | Cohabitant | Other | # Arrested | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1,795 | 162 | 89 | 419 | 213 | 405 | 216 | 291 | 557 |
| 2021 | 1,877 | 172 | 113 | 413 | 270 | 417 | 229 | 263 | 579 |
Additionally, FDLE’s report showed that Part II Offense arrests also rose.
Part II offense arrests increased for adults, generally, by 11.4%, while the number of men specifically arrested for Part II crimes rose 11.3%, according to FDLE. Women committing Part II offenses rose 9.7% in 2021.
- manslaughter
- kidnapping and abduction
- arson
- simple assault
- drug arrests
- bribery
- embezzlement
- fraud
- counterfeit and forgery
- extortion and blackmail
- intimidation
- prostitution
- non-forcible sex offenses
- stolen property
- DUI
- destruction and vandalism
- gambling
- weapons violations
- liquor law violations
