Murder in 2007

Murder in 2007

As I was reading my local paper, I read this article and thought I would make it into a post. This post came to mind partially because of a comment that was made on my blog. The comment was, “I do believe the police end of the criminal justice system is working as it should”. Granted, I know this comment was made in reference to the Kocis case and really has nothing to do with the murders in the area I live in.

The article said more people have already been murdered in St. Petersburg, Fl this year than all of 2006. This number was only for a small portion of the county that I live in. I think it would be interesting to see the numbers for the entire county. Here is a break down of the murders for St. Petersburg.


The following chart is set up for date, Cause of murder, age/sex of victim, age/sex of suspect and if there was an arrest made.

1-------January 17------Other---53 M----Unknown--Yes
2-------January 17------Other---43 M----Unknown--Yes
3-------March 8---------Other---24 M----24 M-----Yes
4-------March 24--------Other---15 M----17 M-----Yes
5-------April 4---------Other---40 F----Unknown--No
6-------April 14--Drug Related--25 M----Unknown--No
7-------April 18--------Other---17 F----20 M-----Yes
8-------May 27---Drug Related---33 M----24 M-----Yes
9-------May 27-------Domestic---30 M----33 M-----Yes
10------May 27---------Other--Unknown---18 M-----Yes
11------June 15--------Other----23 M----24 M-----Yes
12------July 6---------Other---37 F--(mom)Unknown-No
13------July 6---------Other---15 Month(son)Unknown--No
14------July 12--------Other---68 M----Unknown----No
15------July 19--Drug Related--36 M-----51 M------Yes
16------July 30--Home Invasion-63 M-----20 M------Yes
17------August 4--Drug Related-34 M----Unknown----No
18------September 3-Domestic---31 F-----42 M------Yes
19------September 4-Home Invasion---46 M--Unknown-No
20------September 6---Other----35 M-----Unknown---No
21------September 15--Other----49 M-----Unknown---No
22------September 19-Home Invasion-27 M-Unknown---No
23------September 22-Drug Related--42 M Unknown---No
24------October 10---Drug Related--46 M Unknown---No


When we look at these numbers, we see the arrest rate is only 50%. It makes me wonder what some people have based some of the statements on. Maybe if you look at case per case and pick one case where an arrest has been made it would be simple to assume that the police end of the criminal justice system is working as it should.

Granted I live in a unique area. We are one of the smallest counties in the State, but we are the mostly densely populated. We host a high number of homeless. They are bused in here on a daily basis. Some of the murders happened with the homeless. In those cases there has been no arrest made. We have tent cities all over the county for the homeless. I guess its part of the price we pay to live in paradise.

I would like to be able to do a break down of the murders in PA and see how many made it to trial and how many convictions there were. It would also be interesting to see the number of cases where the prosecutor did seek the death penalty and what the outcome of the case ended up being. I think there was a blog once about the numbers in PA; I will have to look and see if I can find that blog.

Some people seem to be under the impression that the FBI automatically becomes involved in murder cases. The cases in St. Petersburg are being investigated by the St. Pete P.D., even though some of the murderers are believed to be in New York and some other parts of the USA. I wonder why the paper did not ask people with information to call the FBI in these cases. The paper ask people with information to call the St. Pete PD. It would seem according to some the FBI are automatically involved in murder cases if someone crosses a State line. It's odd I tell you.

This break down also does not include the people shot, stabbed or a victim of a violent crime on a daily basis. One Police Officer I talked too said he investigates at least one shooting a day in his area.

Please keep in mind I do have the utmost respect for the men and women in uniform. This blog was in no way meant to damage or harm the image of the St. Petersburg Police Department. This blog is only meant to break down the number of murders in my area.