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A serious Florida county made it by means of 2025 with no single murder.
St. Johns County, which homes the historic metropolis of St. Augustine and boasts a inhabitants of greater than 300,000, is the one county among the many 100 largest within the US with out recording a felony murder, in response to a report by the St. Johns Citizen final week.
“Generally you whisper accomplishments since you don’t wish to take them without any consideration,” county Sheriff Robert Hardwick informed the outlet. “We’re really blessed.
“There’s no single purpose for a yr like this. It’s cumulative — a whole lot of variables.”
St. Johns did report two deadly shootings — each officer-involved shootings that have been dominated justified and due to this fact not categorized as felony homicides, First Coast Information mentioned in a separate report.
Hardwick, who mentioned there additionally was only one felony murder within the county in 2024, credited metropolis officers with offering his division with the assistance, coaching and funding required to maintain locals secure, with almost 80% of the sheriff’s workplace funds going to salaries and advantages.
“I actually return to our commissioners approving our funds and permitting me to spend money on expertise, permitting me to spend money on our company members and their gear,” he mentioned.
“It goes again to the group believing in us, not being afraid to name when one thing suspicious happens, Hardwick mentioned. “In the event that they see one thing, they are saying one thing, and so they allow us to do our job.”
The sheriff acknowledged there may be nonetheless work to do, with domestic-violence instances and violations of orders of safety up final yr — that means it’s going to take loads of focus to maintain the zero murder streak going.
“We had an amazing yr — and a fortunate one,” he informed the St. Johns Citizen.
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