Florida’s Uniform Crime Report released on Tuesday.  The state’s crime rate is lower now than it was in 1971, the year the Florida Department of Law Enforcement started keeping track.

In 1971 there were 5,667 criminal offenses for every 100,000 people; in 2010 there were 4,104 offenses.

The crime rate from 2009 to 2010 dropped 6.7%.

Here locally in Duval County, we're no longer the murder capital of the state, that crown now belongs to Miami Dade County.  For every 100,000 people there is 8.98 murders in Duval, in Miami Dade 9.03.

The largest declines in offenses at the state level were in motor vehicle theft, 17.5%, robbery was down 15.6%, and aggravated assault was down 8.9%.

Domestic violence is down 2.7% overall but certain crimes had major drops.  Aggravated stalking was down 15.7%, and assault was down 9%.

FDLE spokesman Keith Kameg says the goal is to see crime down to zero, “But when you start seeing drops across the board, law enforcement across the state are doing a very, very good job.” He says,“As low as they are everyone needs to keep up the work.”

In a statement Governor Rick Scott says, “With six law enforcement officers killed in action during the past four months, the news of these drops in Florida’s crime rate reminds us that public safety comes from the commitment of selfless public servants.”