Tampa Police Benevolent Association commends officers for bravery after Tampa violent crime decreased drastically in 2024

The Tampa Police Benevolent Association (PBA) is commending the Tampa Police Department (TPD) officers that it represents for their bravery in fighting crime, as TPD data from 2024 showed a sharp decrease in crime in the city.

According to the city’s annual crime report, total crime in the city dropped a whopping 14.7 percent, while violent crimes with firearms dropped by 17.7 percent and violent crime as a whole, including robberies and murders, dropped by 8.4 percent.

Tampa is outpacing other major cities across the country, which on average saw only a 5.2 percent drop in violent crime last year.

The city saw a 10 percent decrease in homicides, a 27.5 percent decrease in auto burglaries, a 29.3 percent decrease in grand theft auto and a 16.6 percent decrease in all property crimes. Non-fatal shootings were also down 27 percent.

One of the potential reasons for decreasing crime rates in these specific areas is because of TPD’s focus on informing the public of the dangers of leaving their firearms unattended in their vehicles. There was a 25 percent reduction in firearm theft from vehicles in 2024, giving criminals less access to guns.

“Our dedicated officers are working as hard as any police department in the country to decrease crime in Tampa,” Tampa PBA President Brandon Barclay. “Some of our officers lost their homes during the two months of hurricanes last fall, and others faced catastrophic property damage. Still, they showed up to work and reduced crime last year at a spectacular rate. I couldn’t be more impressed by the work ethic of this department.”

Barclay says that TPD officers face significant dangers while they pursue their mission of lowering crime rates and bringing criminals to justice. Already in the new year, TPD officers have risked life and limb to protect residents of the city.

In late January, a crazed perpetrator began randomly hitting pedestrians with his vehicle in a deadly hit-and-run spree, which eventually led to an officer-involved shooting. The driver died as a result of his actions, and three officers were injured during the incident.

Following that incident, a convicted felon opened fire on two TPD officers, who fired back before the suspect fled on foot. The suspect was apprehended shortly after a foot pursuit. Fortunately, no one was injured during that incident.

“These are just a couple of examples of violent and sometimes deadly scenarios that our officers have faced recently. Make no mistake, all of our officers are prepared to handle violent criminals every time they put on their uniforms,” Barclay said. “It is truly a testimony to their bravery that even as they face life-threatening danger, they have drastically decreased crime in our streets. I’m beyond proud to work with our officers every day.”