Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
The population of juveniles in Jacksonville and throughout Florida continues to increase, however, fortunately, the crime rate among those juveniles in Jacksonville and other areas of Florida are not necessarily matching the population increase. For instance, according to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the juvenile crime rate in Florida has decreased from 87 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles during fiscal year 2002 – 2003 to 77 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles in fiscal year 2006 – 2007. Placement of juveniles in residential delinquent treatment facilities decreased from 9035 to 7187 during that same time period.
As far as the crimes committed the most by juveniles in Florida, assault and battery are the number one misdemeanor crimes and burglary is the number one felony crime.
However, the news on crimes committed by juveniles in Florida is not all positive. Serious crimes committed by juveniles has increased approximately 4% between the fiscal year of 2004 – 2005 to the fiscal year of 2006 – 2007. These crimes include murder and manslaughter, armed robbery, burglary, auto theft, aggravated assault and aggravated battery, sex offenses and drug offenses involving marijuana, crack, cocaine and other illegal drugs as well as unauthorized prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Xanax, Percocet and others.
In Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, the number of juveniles who have been charged with violent felony crimes has decreased slightly since fiscal year 2002/2003.