Ormond Beach car breaks up 71%

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Despite Ormond Beach Police Department continuing to increase its crime prevention efforts, car breaks in the city continue to be the top crime, up 71% compared to last year.

In the public Crimeview meeting on Tuesday, April 30, Sgt. Tom Larsen gave a rundown of the criminal activity happening in the city, and compared it to last year's data. Car breaks have gone up from 57 last year to date to 98 this year. Simultaneously, OBPD has increased its distribution of Lock it or Lose it cards by 137% compared to last year.

Even though the car breaks have increased, car thefts have gone down, Larsen said. Car thefts have decreased by 39% this year, going from 33 last year to date to 20. The LOL cards are working at night, he said.

"The thief during the day is not the thief at night," Larsen said.

A two-week period, from April 9-22, saw a total of nine car breaks. Five of those were unlocked, and in one case, an iPhone, laptop and phone charging cords were stolen.

“If we can get them to lock their cars, this stuff wouldn’t be taken," Larsen said.

Here are other notable statistics shared by OBPD:

There were 2,414 calls for service from April 9-22, resulting in 226 reported incidents.
Business burglaries are down 44%, going from 34 to 19 year to date.
Sex offenses are up 60%, going from 5 to 8 year to date.
Field interview cards (used to take note of suspicious persons) are up 40%, going from 159 to 224. This is another crime prevention tactic by OBPD.
There have been 372 crashes this year so far.
Zero bikes were stolen during Bike Week.
10 guns were reported stolen after a secondhand dealer traded them on the street for drugs.