Larcenies double during first six months of 2012

Larcenies more than doubled during the first half of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, with 67 larceny cases reported to Longboat Key police between January and June, compared with 31 during the first half of last year.

Burglaries were up also, with eight incidents during the first six months of the year, compared with six months of 2011.

But overall, crime doesn’t appear to be on the rise on Longboat Key, according to Longboat Key Acting Police Chief Pete Cumming, who recently completed an analysis of the first six months’ crime stats for the year. Instead, a few waves of incidents drive crime statistics up on the Key, with its unusually low crime rates.
There was a string of larcenies in March, followed by another string in late June. More than a dozen of the June incidents occurred in the Longbeach Village during Tropical Storm Debby, involving mostly the theft of cash from unlocked homes and vehicles. The weekend after the storm, another string of at least six incidents involving theft of cash and other valuables occurred from unlocked vehicles in Country Club Shores.

“My conclusion, based on statistics, beyond those incidents, is we’re at or below normal crime rates,” Cumming said.

Police have recovered $12,360 worth of the $71,608 in property reported stolen, according to department statistics.

As usual, the Key was nearly free of violent crime, with just two violent offences reported.