Sheriff Mina: Homicides are up in county compared to last year

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has technology and resources, but what Sheriff John Mina said it needs is people to speak up. 

Sheriff Mina addressed the public on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in response to what he said was a recent spike in shootings across Central Florida in and out of OCSO jurisdiction. 

While the homicide averages have remained steady over the past decade, compared to last year, homicides have increased.

So far this year, there have been 40 homicides in Orange County, which is higher than the 29 homicides at this time in 2018.

“If you look at the averages of homicides both in the city of Orlando … and Orange County, the averages (have stayed) about the same for the past 10 or so years,” Mina said. “So it’s not this huge increase when you compare it to years past, but it does seem like people are more prone to use violence, especially (with) guns.”

“I’ve been doing this for three decades and, in my opinion, people seem to turn to violence more than they did 10, 20 years ago,” he said.

Numbers aside, Mina said when it comes to crime in the county, the Sheriff’s Office only can be in so many places at once.

“We need everyone — parents, schools, teachers — to get involved,” Mina said.

He said many crimes are solved by eye-witnesses and tips via Crimeline, Central Florida’s 24-hour anonymous tip line anyone can call to provide information on criminal activity for local law enforcement agencies. In the last year, tips from Crimeline have helped clear 683 cases, seize 72 weapons and make 486 arrests, according to the Crimeline website. 

“A lot of times with these different incidents … people know what’s going on,” Mina said. “They know about the different disagreements between family members, friends or maybe even rival drug gangs. We need people to come forward, tell us what’s going on, so we can put a stop to it.”

The Sheriff’s Office is taking steps to prevent violent crimes in its jurisdiction. Mina said he won’t share specific details but that when a violent crime happens, the Sheriff’s Office pushes more resources into that area. It also uses tactics that are both visible and not visible. 

“Any time there’s a spike in crime in a certain area, we’re always going to put all the resources we can into specific areas or go out at specific times,” Mina said. “We always focus, again, on some of our more challenging areas, but the homicides in Orange County have kind of been spread out. It’s not one particular thing I can pinpoint.”