TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A new report shows crime in Florida is falling overall but the number of reported rapes is up.
Rape is down 10 percent in Leon County, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2017 Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report. However, statewide, reports of rape are up eight percent.
The FDLE says any increase is concerning and it's keeping a watch on those numbers when the full annual report is published sometime in the spring.
Jennifer Dritt, the director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, says people shouldn't be concerned because this doesn't mean more rapes are happening but rather that more people are coming forward to report them.
She says people should be hopeful and that the report indicates an improved first response in communities across the state.
Dritt says this new info also indicates more sensitivity in response by first responders to comfort victims of sexual assault who report the crime.
