FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Some of Florida’s biggest municipalities went against the national trend in 2021 by reducing their murder numbers, or keeping them practically the same, from 2020, according to statistics from medical examiners.
COVID-19 caused major changes in routine activities such as going to work, going to the movies, going out to eat, or attending late-night parties, and that may have reduced opportunities for homicides and violent crime.
“This could explain, in part, a decrease in crime in some South Florida regions,” Dr. Vaughn Crichlow, associate dean in the College of Social Work and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University, said in an email.
—Miami-Dade County had 250 murders in 2021, a significant drop from the 290 it had in 2020.
—Broward County had 154 murders in 2021, a slight reduction from 158 in 2020.
—Palm Beach County had 109 murders in 2021, a slight increase from 100 in 2020.
—Orange County, home to Orlando, had 117 murders in 2021, a noteworthy decrease from 138 in 2020.
—Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, had 110 murders in 2021, and 108 in 2020.
By comparison, Chicago, which has become synonymous with gun violence and killings, led the nation with 797 murders in 2021.
Preliminary FBI figures show murder numbers increased in 2021 in Chicago, New York (488) and Los Angeles (397), among other locales.
Economics are a factor in murder numbers, Crichlow said. He said sustained unemployment in declining neighborhoods is associated with other factors such as under-resourced schools, lack of quality childcare, lack of access to health care and substance abuse.
“These factors have impacted some communities in Broward and Palm Beach counties that seem to record higher levels of violent crime over a long period of time,” he said.
A single murder has lasting effects, and victims’ families are doing what they can to change the scenarios that took the lives of their loved ones.
“There’s no recovery,” said Allison Kessler, whose 4-year-old son, Greyson, was killed by her ex-husband, John Stacey, in May in a murder-suicide in Fort Lauderdale. “I will never be OK and never be the same person.”
Kessler spent days lobbying lawmakers in Tallahassee last month, trying to pass Greyson’s Law, or Senate Bill 1106, which would make it easier for an estranged parent to protect their child from another parent.
The proposed Miya’s Law is named for Miya Marcano, a 19-year-old Pembroke Pines native and Valencia College student who, police say, was murdered in September in Orlando by her apartment’s maintenance man. Miya’s Law seeks improvement in background checks for employment screening and more advance notice before apartment workers can enter a residence, among other items.
Richard Rosenbaum, a Fort Lauderdale-based defense attorney who handles death-penalty murders as well as family law, said he’s noticed a difference in spousal violence the last couple of years.
He said he hasn’t seen a difference in other types of murders among his clients.
“Drug murders are a lot of what we get here in Broward County for control of the streets or rip-offs or harboring some grudge or gangs are involved or something like that,” he said. “I just think those types of murders stay the same from year to year.”
Lauderhill police chief Constance Stanley said building relationships with the community helps reduce murders because it allows people to feel more comfortable with those who serve their communities. She said letting people know they can report crimes anonymously via methods such as Crime Stoppers without fear of retaliation also helps.
“This method works, and I have seen it used more often than not,” she said in an email. “I personally review these tips and appreciate those who take advantage of this option.”
The FBI will release its complete 2021 murder statistics later this year.
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