Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings attributes the recent spate of violent crimes, to some of the hazards which come from growing into a big city, even as data show that violent crime is trending downward.
Demings made this observation Thursday, in an exclusive interview with West Orlando News Online, pointing out that year-to-date, compared to last year, violent crime in Orange County is down by about 7 percent.
“Crime and delinquency are a few challenges that any major metropolitan city is going to experience,” he said. “We are seeing these things and are working proactively to deal with them and have been very successful in bringing to justice those we believe are the perpetrators of most of the homicides.”
Overall crime had declined by 23.2 percent in the first three years he had been in office, Demings said, and violent crime had declined by 20.2 percent.
Demings pointed to the several initiatives that have been undertaken under his leadership to help fight crime, including, opening new sub-stations in crime prone areas, enhanced patrols by deputies and new mentoring and gang-resistance programs.
While progress has been made in tackling crime over the nearly four years he has been in office, Demings said he is seeking re-election because more can be done in turning OCSO into a top-rated agency, nationwide.
“We can take this agency even further in terms of being one of the top most highly rated law enforcement agencies in the nation and we are doing that,” Demings said, noting that OCSO has been re-accredited at the national and state level. “Rome wasn’t built in a day and I am not disappointed in the progress that we have made.”
Demings will face a primary challenger in Mike Greene, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, on August 14.
Thanks Sheriff Demings for your efforts. I look forward to seeing your specific plans for our community. I did notice an increased number of patrol cars in the area after you took office 4 years ago. But it appears that a different added approach is needed.
I have actually noticed that crime is up. Besides seeing it in the news, I see it outside of my home on a daily basis. There are less patrols as well. I have also looked at the statistics and they clearly show crime is up from 2010 to 2011. Murder is up 20%, etc. I’m not sure where Demings gets his stats from but they are obviously not accurate. Everyone I know throughout the county have been crime victims, repeatedly. That along with Orange County still being rated as the 4 th highest county in crime in this state- and there are 67 counties in this state. I found my facts on the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement website. Crime under Demings is indeed up! I’m looking for a different choice for Sheriff this election. Either Greene or Tegg. It’s time for someone with street experience in that office.
I’m NOT at all an expert on law enforcement but I recently had a thought-provoking conversation with a very disgruntled police officer who pointed out to me that the reason why Jerry Demings gets away with saying that crime is down IS BECAU
SE ARRESTS ARE DOWN! He explained that arrests have been down since Demings took office because the special investigations and undercover units were cut back and/or eliminated! So, though the reality is that crime has increased, if you don’t have the arrests and investigations by these special undercover units, then you can say with a straight face that crime is down! He also pointed out that they can recategorize crimes in order to manipulate the numbers. If true, I find this highly deceptive. Is this the case and what is your opinion on this?