The COVID pandemic may have resulted in fewer non-violent crimes, which rived Escambia County’s overall crime rate down 6.2% in comparison to 2019. Statewide the drop was much steeper. According to the 2020 Annual Uniform Crime Report released, Florida’s total crime volume dropped 14.1 percent.
Unfortunately, the violent crimes were up Escambia County. Murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults and car thefts increased. The murders jumped from 27 to 32, rapes from 186 to 225, robberies from 337 to 376, aggravated assaults from 1,227 to 1,306 and motor vehicle thefts from 650 to 732. Five of the murders were inside the city limits.
Ten years ago, Escambia County reported 29 murders and 215 rapes. In 2000, the county had 16 murders and only 100 rapes.