Tampa is becoming a safe place to live, according to crime stats released by the city Monday.
Both Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa Police Chief Eric Ward point to community involvement as the reason.
"It's a team effort,” said Buckhorn. “Without the relationship with the community, every part of the community, this would not happen."
Mayor Buckhorn noted a 24 percent decrease in crime in Tampa since 2011.
In the past year, he noted a 16.5 percent drop in violent crime and a 6.8 percent decrease in property crime.
Tampa police say they’re continuing to look for innovative ways to further reduce crime, but say nothing is more beneficial than community involvement.
That community involvement led to the arrest over the weekend of a man and woman they say broke into a Seminole Heights home last week. The man could be seen in the video trying to crawl out of camera’s view, but was still clearly seen. Tampa police put that video on Facebook and NextDoor and within hours had an ID and arrest.
