A year-by-year look at the number of offenses in Suwannee County during the first six months of the year.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — While proud of the work his department has done, Live Oak Police Chief Buddy Williams admits they can’t take all the credit for the city’s decreasing crime rate.

In the semi-annual Uniform Crime Report released last week by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, crime dropped nearly 36 percent in the City of Live Oak during the first six months of 2018 compared to that time span a year ago. Overall, Suwannee County’s crime rate decreased 6.8 percent.

“A lot of it has to do with the dedication of the men and women that work here, of course,” Williams said. “I’d like to tell you that a lot of it wasn’t luck, but a lot of it is luck too.

“But one trend we’ve noticed is when you start working traffic a little harder, it decreases some of your other crimes and activities.

“The neat thing is both agencies in this county like to combine community policing into the criminal part of it and I think it’s starting to pay off.”

Thanks to that luck on the LOPD’s side as well as the work the police officers have done, there were only 74 crimes committed in the city during the first half of the year compared to 115 in 2017. It’s the lowest crime total in the semi-annual UCRs for the city that the FDLE shows dating back to 2000.

In addition to the total number being down, LOPD worked fewer cases in pretty much every category during the early part of 2018. Aggravated assaults dropped from 24 to 14, burglaries decreased from 48 to 26, larcenies fell from 30 to 27 and motor vehicle thefts were down from nine to three. There were four robberies, same as in 2017, and for the eighth straight year, there were no murders or rapes in the first half of the year.

“Overall, the numbers look good but I’ve said it many times, one or two offenses can completely scatter your numbers up in a hurry,” Williams said.

And while crime was down, the success of LOPD in solving cases went up for the second straight year as well. The department’s clearance rate was 48.6 percent, nearly doubled from 2016 when it was 27.5 percent.

“Lt. (Jason) Rountree and Bradley Harrison work really hard and they’ve formed a good relationship with patrol that they’re trying to do some follow up,” Williams added.

“I’m really proud of all the work these men and women do up here to be honest with you.”

While the county’s overall rate was down, the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office worked 293 cases during the first six months, an increase of 4.3 percent.

In the county, there were increases in burglaries (59 to 78) and larcenies (137 to 151) but decreases in aggravated assault (68 to 44). SCSO also worked one murder and one robbery in the first half of 2018 after having no cases a year ago. There were also six rape crimes compared to five in 2017.

“We haven’t done too too bad,” Sheriff Sam St. John said. “Could we do better? Yes we can, we always can.”

The SCSO’s clearance rate also dropped just slightly in 2018 at 42 percent compared to 44.8 in 2017.

“I’m good with the clearance rate and where it’s at,” St. John said, adding that clearance rate was about twice the national average. “The guys are doing a good job of solving these crimes.

“I wish we could solve them all, but that’s just not possible unless we can hire a lot more help.”