Seminole County

Winter Springs police chief says crime is dropping post-pandemic

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — The City of Winter Springs has been labeled as the fourth safest city in the state according to safewise.com.

However, during the pandemic, the city saw an increase in crime, specifically in a couple of areas.

Winter Springs Police Chief Matt Tract said they are now starting to see that statistic again decrease.

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The chief said now that things are returning to normal, crimes like assaults and larceny which were way up during the pandemic are decreasing.

Tract called 2020 an anomaly when it comes to crime and added during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic crime rates went up all across Central Florida and that Winter Springs was no exception.

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“We saw a rise in our crime rates in 2020 with larcenies and assaults, most likely, probably due to the pandemic. People were at home, unemployed and didn’t know what to expect. They were probably doing things that they probably shouldn’t have been doing,” Tract said.

The chief said in 2021 they saw a difference as people went back to work and that the crime rate went down by 37%. Tract said the crime numbers continue to fall.

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“Right now, as of year to date, we’re seeing a reduction from 2021. Everything is falling on the right path. The city is also switching how it reports crime. The National Incident-Based Reporting System not only collects crime data but gives more detailed information and helps give context to specific crime problems,” Tract said. “It’s the same crime that’s being reported, it’s just more of it. Think of it like this, if the Uniform Crime Reporting Program was a window of information, the NBIRA is now the doors are open and a lot more information is getting submitted.”

The chief plans to give more detail about how the NBIRS works to during Monday night’s city council meeting.

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Jeff Levkulich

Jeff Levkulich, WFTV.com

Jeff Levkulich joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in June 2015.