TAMPA, Fla. — Interim Chief of Police Ruben Delgado will hold a community forum Tuesday addressing Tampa’s spike in gun violence in 2021.
The forum will happen at the Jackson Heights YET NFL Center at 5:30 p.m.
Tampa Police said the number of homicides this year sits at just under 50, a 65% increase since last year.
Police released homicide numbers from the past half-decade which show an average of 31 homicides per year.
That was up until this year's spike, with Tampa Police saying the active count for the year stands at 47.
2021 – 47 (active count)
2020 – 31
2019 – 31
2018 – 27
2017 – 39
2016 – 29
Police say the total number of shooting victims this year in Tampa stands at 243, with 194 being non-fatal.
82 of those shottings were in East Tampa.
For a comparison, there were 219 total shooting victims across Tampa in 2020 and just 121 in 2019.
Interim Chief Delgado will stand alongside community groups working with police to curb the rise in gun violence the city is seeing.
Tampa Police only released the number of homicides in advance of the forum, which don’t include shootings where a death did not happen.
Stay tuned to Spectrum Bay News 9 for more on tonight’s community forum on gun violence.