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Crime rates drop for city of Fort Myers

By Staff | Jul 22, 2010

Crime is down in the city of Fort Myers — 10.6 percent for the first six months of 2010 compared to the same time period last year. Recently the Fort Myers Police Department submitted the Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for review.
Chief Doug Baker is pleased with the results.
“In 2009 we reorganized the department after a retirement buyout,” he said. “We have achieved so much working with less. We are continuing to work hard through proactive policing and by bettering our relationship with the community”
The breakdown of crime year to date for 2009 and 2010 includes:
2009 2010
Burglary 367 294
Theft 967 916
Auto Theft 135 112
Robbery 113 84
Assault 258 248
Sex Offenses 39 31
Murder 12 5
In addition, since his appointment, Baker has put many programs in place to get the community involved with the police department. For example; for the first six months of 2010 FMPD removed 164 guns from city streets with the help of the department’s Violent Crime Task Force. The task force is enhanced by information from the community. The most recent, award-winning program, Community, Offender, Probation and Education (C.O.P.E) Unit assists adult offenders who are serving out their sentences in the City by combining law enforcement and social services.
Baker reminds citizens of the department’s mission – exceptional public safety through quality partnerships. “We can only be as good as the community allows us to be. We need citizens to be involved with police work if we want to achieve our goal of becoming one of the safest cities in Florida.”