ORLANDO, Fla. — A recent uptick in violence has led Orlando and Orange County law enforcement to put their heads together.
- Orlando police, Orange Sheriff's Office team to combat crime
- Recent numbers from Orlando Police show uptick in crime
- However, police chief says that number of homicides are down
- Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon
Statistics provided by Orlando Police show that July was the most violent month yet this year.
Four people have been killed this month in the city of Orlando.
One of the victims, a 61-year-old woman, was shot to death at the Mill Creek apartments.
"This July, we saw a spike toward the end of this month,” Police Chief Orlando Rolon said.
Rolon said that July is typically a violent month. So far in 2019, there have been 123 shootings in Orlando, with 16 people killed, according to the statistics. But Rolon said this is actually an improvement.
"We have seen a significant reduction compared to last year when it comes to homicides," Rolon said. "Last year it was a very significant number."
According to the department, eight people were killed in July of last year. And from January to July last year, there were 34 homicides. That's more than double what we've seen this year.
But even though homicides have gone down dramatically, that doesn’t mean violence is not a problem.
“One homicide is one too many. That’s the one thing we all have to recognize” Rolon said.
Rolon said his department is working to coordinate with other agencies using a method learned from New Orleans.
“It brings together specific segments of law enforcement, specialized units, judicial system, federal agencies, analysts,” Rolon said.
Rolon said Orlando Police hopes to coordinate weekly meetings with other Central Florida agencies to better combat the violence. The first of these meetings happened at Orlando Police headquarters Thursday.
But Rolon didn’t have any specific strategies or solutions to share from that meeting. He said he hopes to see more results as the program expands.