Bradenton Police say homicides increased, but violent crimes decreased

BRADENTON - Sarasota County and the city of Bradenton are distinct places, but they share one thing that they hope will not continue: more murders this year than last."We've had on record 6-7 years straight where crimes have been down. But when you get so low, there's nowhere to go but up," says Lt. Darrell Akemon of the Bradenton Police Department.And that's exactly what happened in the city when it comes to the 2011 crime statistics. "In the city of Bradenton, crimes were slightly up at this time. We're finding increase in property crimes, larceny, burglary."Lt. Akemon says that violent crimes within city limits were actually down, but homicides are up, from 0 in 2010 to 2 in 2011. "We've solved one of the 2 homicides. The other we are working on."He says officers check crime statistics on a weekly basis. If one area has more crime

Go to www.bradentonmagazine.com for latest Bradenton News