Last week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported the lowest crime rate across the state since the agency began tracking statistics in 1971. With population growth factored in, the overall crime rate dropped 0.8 percent from 2010 to 2011. In Miami-Dade, the crime rate dropped 0.3 percent last year.
But a closer look at FDLE's latest stats reveals that some densely populated areas of Miami-Dade experienced sharp increases in crime since 2010.
Last year, crime in Miami rose by nearly 11 percent, while in Miami Beach and Coral Gables the crime rate went up 13 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the predominantly upper middle class villages of El Portal, Key Biscayne, and Pinecrest had crime rate increases of 30 percent, 18 percent, and 21 percent, respectively.
Although no municipality came close to Sweetwater, where the crime rate rocketed by a mind-boggling 177 percent. The city (population: 13,631) had 15 more robberies, 27 more burglaries, and 738 more larcenies in 2011 than in 2010.
In Miami, there were 96 rapes, 2,002 robberies, and 5,141 burglaries in 2011 compared to 46 rapes, 1,856 robberies, and 4,604 burglaries in 2010. Over in Miami Beach, there were more robberies and aggravated assaults in 2011 than in 2010.
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