Cumming explains 2014 police stats

Fraud cases are up, boating incidents are down, and alcohol violations? With zero alcohol violations reported in 2014, the latest crime statistics make Longboat Key look like a dry town.

The Longboat Key Police Department’s 2014 statistics reveal a few increases and decreases from 2013 that can be explained. The increase in fraud? Part of a nationwide trend. The decrease in boating and traffic incidents? Increased police presence and license-plate recognition cameras, respectively, get credit for the drops. But most fluctuations in crime are like the drop from 13 alcohol violations in 2013 to zero in 2014: They can’t be explained.

“Our numbers are relatively consistent with 2013,” said Police Chief Pete Cumming. “There’s always going to be fluctuations.”

Overall, police responded to 5,622 calls in 2014 — a 5.97% drop from the 5,979 calls the department handled in 2013.

Longboat Key’s low crime numbers have earned the town recent recognition.

In August, Safe Choice Security ranked Longboat Key No. 10 on its list of the 20 safest cities in Florida. Longboat Key stole the safety spotlight again in December, when ValuePenguin listed it as the seventh safest city in Florida out of the 224 cities it analyzed.

Zero-for-zero
The town did not experience any of the following incidents in 2013 or 2014:

• Altercation
• Arson
• Bombing
• Firearms
• Gambling
• Hate crimes
• Homicide
• Plane incidents
• Prowling
• Shooting
• Stabbing
• Unauthorized use
• Vehicle theft
• Weapons
• Worthless documents

High five
The following incidents were the most common categories of police responses in 2014:

What’s up vs. what's down
What types of incidents are keeping police phone lines busy? And what types of incidents are on the decline?

Burglary

Explanation: Numbers vary from year to year, and there isn’t any single explanation for the increase in burglaries that occurred in 2014. But when it comes to burglaries, here’s a figure that holds steady year after year: Approximately 85% of burglaries occur when doors are unlocked for both homes and vehicles.

Boating incidents

Explanation: The Police Department added a second boat to its fleet in 2014, making it possible for officers to spend more time on the water.

“We’re pulling fewer case numbers because we’re spending more time interacting with the boating public and educating them about boater safety,” Cumming said. “We’re out there being more visible.”

Traffic incidents

Explanation: The town’s license-recognition cameras, which began snapping in August 2013, appear to be working.

“I think we’re getting less people out here with those types of problems,” said Cumming, referring to violations such as outstanding warrants, suspended driver’s licenses and expired tags that the cameras catch. “If we had zero activity on the cameras, that would be the best news we could get.”

Trespassing

Explanation: Much of the decrease is due to additional patrolling at the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort.

Alcohol violations

Explanation: That’s another one of those fluctuations that’s difficult to explain.

“Typically those violations are what we find when we go out to public beach accesses and find people with alcohol or when you have people who are slightly underage,” Cumming said. “We just haven’t had that kind of activity.”

Code enforcement

Explanation: In 2014, the code enforcement position was restructured so that the code enforcement officer reports to the Police Department instead of the Planning, Zoning and Building Department.
“We started addressing things in-house here,” Cumming said. “Some were going over to Town Hall again.”

Fraud

Explanation: The increase in fraud cases is part of a nationwide trend. “The trend is going away from traditional go-out-and-steal-something crimes to people getting more creative and getting on the computer or phone and trying to trick somebody,” Cumming said.

Larceny

Explanation: Like the spike in burglary, the increase appears to be a year-to-year fluctuation.