Florida crime rate down, Santa Rosa’s up

Governor Rick Scott and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey announced the state’s crime rate declined 6.7 percent for 2010 over the previous year, reaching a rate that is the lowest in four decades, according to a press release April 26.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Wendell Hall said he believes the crime rate has gone down because sentencing has gotten tougher.

“A lot of people are locked up, and they can’t commit crimes because, usually during bad economic times, crime goes up. Laws are tougher on repeat offenders now,” said Hall.

For more on this story, see the May 5 edition of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.