Preliminary figures for 2009 show that crime dropped for the eighth consecutive year in unincorporated Collier County.
The 5,971 crimes reported in 2009 is the lowest number since 1986.
Preliminary numbers recently submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office show that the area patrolled by CCSO saw a 4.7 percent decrease when compared to 2008 figures.
The statistics represent the categories of homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.
Collier County Sheriff Kevin J. Rambosk credited the decline in reported crimes to a combination of forces ranging from improved community partnerships to more youth programming and from Community Safety Teams to the dedication and commitment to public safety carried out every day by the men and women of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
“All of these efforts are making a difference in keeping Collier County a safe place,” Sheriff Rambosk said.
Motor vehicle thefts showed the largest overall decrease from 306 in 2008 to 214 in 2009, a 30.1 percent drop.
Sexual assaults dropped 17.5 percent from 120 to 99; robberies decreased 16.1 percent from 224 to 188; aggravated assaults decreased 8 percent from 760 to 699; burglaries dipped 5.3 percent from 1,258 to 1,191; and larcenies dropped .7 percent from 3,590 to 3,566.
The only crime increase in 2009 came in homicides.
Homicides increased 133.3 percent, from six to 14. Factoring into the increase were the deaths of a mother and her five children in North Naples in September. Mesac Damas, 33, is charged with six counts of premeditated first-degree murder in the killing of his wife Guerline Dieu Damas, 32, and their five children: Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 19 months.
The last time there were fewer than 5,971 reported crimes in Collier was 1986, when there were 5,777 reported crimes. However, there were 101,721 residents in Collier in 1986 compared to 294,565 residents in 2009.
Click here to see the Part 1 crimes numbers.
