Crime and Public Safety covers policing, sheriff's offices, jails, fire rescue and emergency response in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. The desk measures trends with the crime totals local agencies submit to the FBI and with NHTSA records of deadly crashes, and it sets each county beside Florida and the nation.
Preliminary federal data count 11 deaths in Pasco County truck and bus crashes this year, compared with three in Pinellas County.
Tampa police averaged 25.2 offenses per 100,000 per month from February through July, compared with 26.2 offenses per 100,000 per month nationwide.
A short questionnaire can catch depression early. Here is what the state's gun death data shows about why that matters, and where to get help.
Florida's statewide property crime rate climbed 6.8% over the same January-through-July stretch.