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Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer taps on crime issue during State of Downtown speech

ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer gave his State of Downtown address Wednesday.

Dyer said a lot is already being done to help curb crime in the downtown area and all over the city.

He admitted that with a busier downtown, crime has been a problem recently.

Dyer said a downtown task force made up of residents and business people will help police address the problems.

That was just one element of the comments he made during his speech.

Dyer gave his 10th State of Downtown address from the Amway Center, which is a facility he touted as an example of a thriving downtown amid a down economy.

"We've accomplished much in less than a decade, breathing life back into a downtown that was called a ghost town as recently as 2004," said Dyer.

Nowadays, downtown Orlando attracts plenty of visitors, but also this year, some very serious crimes.

On Tuesday night, a man was shot and killed in Orlando (Read Story). WFTV asked Dyer about safety. He said that issue will be addressed by a special downtown crime task force.

"Obviously there are some issues of large crowds late at night. There have been some issues of drinking incidents," said Dyer. "We have a problem with people living here, and people making noise at night."

On the same day, ground was being broken for the first downtown high-rise in years.

Dyer also talked about downtown developments that for years struggled with high vacancy rates. Those days, he said, are gone.

"The apartment buildings are all between 95 and 100 percent occupied. 55 West is a great example. They're 100 percent occupied.

The big push for Dyer, though, was green initiatives.

Dyer said Orlando is now one of the top cities in the nation for implementing green initiatives.

Dyer told the crowd that after his speech, he'd be attending the groundbreaking of Sky House, which is a 23-story luxury apartment building going up across the street from the downtown courthouse.