Florida criminal law: crime dropping in the rural areas of Hillsborough County

April 04, 2013 (Press-News.org) Florida criminal law: crime dropping in the rural areas of Hillsborough County

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Overall, the crime rate dropped by a respectable 7 percent in the more sparsely populated areas of Hillsborough County outside the Tampa metro, according to the Tampa Bay Times report about data recently released by law enforcement.

Unincorporated numbers

In Feb. 2013, the Hillsborough County, Fla., Sheriff's Office released crime data for the unincorporated parts of the county. The unincorporated portion of the county is comprised of about 900 square miles or about 85 percent of the county outside its municipalities, the largest of which is Tampa.

The Tampa Bay Times says further that crime in general has been dropping countywide for the past couple of decades. The following statistics were provided for unincorporated Hillsborough County:

-Reported burglaries went down from about 5,100 in 2011 to about 4,150 in 2012, attributed by a sheriff spokesperson to the ability of law enforcement to target burglary patterns, and arrest and convict repeat offenders.
-The number of murders was 28 in each year with no increase or decrease.
-Slightly lower in 2012 over 2011 were the numbers of car thefts, larcenies, robberies and rapes.
-Two categories, however, did see increases in 2012: aggravated assaults by 5 percent and violent crimes generally by 1 percent.

Municipality numbers

In the more urban parts of the county, the FBI reported mixed results in its Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report for the first six months of 2012 as compared with the same period in 2011. In the category of "violent crime," Clearwater's numbers were slightly up and those in Tampa and St. Petersburg slightly down.

Talk to a Florida defense lawyer

No matter the trends in criminal activity, the state of Florida is extremely tough in sentencing those convicted of crimes, up to and including life in prison without parole and the death penalty, although capital sentencing is rare. The sentences often vary in severity with the details of the particular crime. For example, was a gun involved? Was someone hurt during the crime? Did the crime involve illegal drugs? Was the defendant a reoffender?

Anyone in Hillsborough County who suspects that he or she is under investigation for a crime, or who has been questioned, arrested or charged, should seek legal advice and representation by an experienced Tampa Bay-area criminal defense attorney. The earlier a potential defendant involves legal counsel, the sooner the lawyer can begin to protect the rights of the individual and conduct his or her own investigation into the details of the case.