Want to win a bet? Ask your drinking buddies which county has the bigger crime problem – Mobile County, Ala. or Escambia County, Fla.?
Escambia County has a much bigger crime problem.
From 2015 – 2022, Escambia County violent crimes per 1,000 – 6.0; Mobile County – 1.18.
From 2015 – 2022, Escambia County property crimes per 1,000 – 25.93; Mobile County – 9.14.
Data Sources: Alabama Department of Labor; Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
Don’t worry, CJ. Pensacola’s Finest have Gloria Horning all locked down now, so with them making citizen advocates a special point of interest, you all should be good to go crime-wise over in the City.
Just be sure to let em know if any of those ADA or affordable housing folks get out hand. With any luck, it will be a builder or rich investor involved in filing the report–that’s when they’re *really* Johnny on the spot.
I’ve been tracking crime stats going back to 1995. The Escambia County Sheriff Office’s crime rate has been “above” the state average since 2009. During the last five years of Sheriff Morgan’s tenure ECSO twice ranked #1, twice ranked #2 and once ranked #3 for Sheriff’s Office crime rates in the state. [#1 is worst not best.] In 2021, Sheriff Simmons’ first year in office, he kept it at #3. We’re constantly told that the problem is poor, black people raised in single-parent families. I dug up every type of county-level state document I could find on poverty, race and demographics and compared it all to the 2021 county crime rates. I found no obvious correlation. Things in the City of Pensacola are even worse. Until 2001, the city’s crime rate was “below” the state average. In 2002, Mayor Fogg’s first full year in office, the crime rate went slightly “above” the state average and then really jumped in 2006 (+34.1%). During Mayor Wiggins’ last year in office (2010) the city’s crime rate was +34.9%. Mayor Hayward spiked it up to +77% in 2012, it averaged 56% for his eight years and in his last year it was +54%. Mayor Robinson’s average for the three years of data reported to date was +60.1% with +67.8% in 2021. Things are so bad that almost no PPD Officers will live in the city. A PPD vehicle parked in a city driveway is a very rare sight. Even before being hired, Police Chief Randall said that “he” would not live in the city and he was still hired. He lives in Cantonment in a $500,000 suburban palace with his PPD SUV in the driveway. One PPD Officer told me that he no longer will go downtown at night, and certainly not with his family, because there are so many drunk drivers on the road. PPD DUI enforcement is passive at best. I have wondered if there is a correlation between consumption of alcohol and crime. Expect it to get worse with former bar owner Mayor Reeves so actively promoting even more alcohol in downtown. People do vote with their feet. In 2021, the city’s crime rate was 3.5 times for Santa Rosa County. By 2050, Santa Rosa County’s population will likely be greater than the population in Escambia County. Low crime, low taxes and great schools are a winning combination.
But we have movie nights!!!