Friday, October 27, 2017

West Palm Beach: By the end of October 2016 there were 8 homicides. Thus far in 2017 the number is 23 homicides.


In perspective: All of unincorporated Palm Beach County and the nine (9) cities who use PBSO to provide law enforcement (see list below) there have been 27 homicides so far this year; versus 23 homicides in just one city: West Palm Beach.

Some cities have thus far been more fortunate. By the end of October last year in the City of Lake Worth there were nine (9) homicides. Thus far in 2017
there have been four.

The very bad news this year is 3 cities — West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, and Boynton Beach — make up 50% of all homicides in Palm Beach County (41 of 82). If there ever was a time for an editorial in The Palm Beach Post taking on the crisis of guns and senseless violence, now is the time.

The good news, if you can possibly imagine any good news, is it looks less and less likely PBC will exceed a dreaded milestone.

Reporter Julius Whigham II at the Post prepared everyone earlier this year; the possibility PBC could once again — sadly for the 4th time since 2007 — exceed the number of 100 homicides. Most of the victims Black, 20–34 years old, and murdered by firearms.

To verify these numbers for yourself, use the “Homicide Tracker”, a database provided by the Post. Use this link for the article last July by reporter Julius Whigham II titled, “County homicides on pace to be deadliest year in past decade”:

“The county reached 61 homicides as of Friday morning [June 30th], close to the mid-point of the year. The second-deadliest mid-year total was 2014, when there were 55 homicides through June. [emphasis added] The county finished with 98 homicides that year. The county has not reached 60 homicides before August in at least a decade, according to Palm Beach Post records.
     If the second half of 2017 matches the first, the county would exceed 100 homicides for just the third time since 2007. The county had 107 homicides in 2007, 105 in 2008 and 109 in 2015, Post records show.”

As of October 25th from the Post database:

  • Total homicides in Palm Beach County (PBC) in 2016: 87.
  • Total homicides so far in 2017: 82 (by this time in 2016 there were 71).

Three cities in PBC account for half (41 of 82) of all homicides so far this year:

  • West Palm Beach: 23 (by this time in 2016 there were 8 homicides in WPB).
  • Riviera Beach: 11
  • Boynton Beach: 7
West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, and Boynton Beach have their own police departments.

All other cities listed in the Post database with their own police departments (13 cities total):

  • Jupiter: 4 homicides
  • Delray Beach: 3
  • Palm Beach Gardens: 2
  • Boca Raton, Lantana, Palm Springs: 1
  • Lake Clarke Shores, Loxahatchee Groves, Palm Beach Shores, Tequesta: 0

Total homicides* in the nine cities patrolled by PBSO and including unincorporated County areas: 29 (versus 53 in seven cities with their own police departments).

  • Unincorporated PBC: 13 homicides
  • Lake Worth: 4
  • Mangonia Park: 3
  • Belle Glade, Greenacres: 2
  • Pahokee, South Bay, Wellington: 1
  • Lake Park, Royal Palm Beach: 0
  • “Loxahatchee” (not a city but listed in the database): 0

Breakdown by race:

  • Black: 53 homicides
  • White: 18
  • Hispanic: 7
  • Native: 1
  • Other: 1
  • Unknown: 2
Note the Post’s database used to have a search tool by age but that was eliminated. When that was available it showed most h
  • Atlantis
  • Briny Breezes
  • Cloud Lake
  • Glen Ridge
  • Golf
  • Gulf Stream
  • Haverhill
  • Highland Beach
  • Hypoluxo
  • Juno Beach
  • Jupiter Inlet Colony
  • Manalapan
  • North Palm Beach
  • Ocean Ridge
  • Palm Beach
  • South Palm Beach
  • Westlake
omicides, by far, were in the age group 20–34.

So. What does all this mean?

The year 2016 was a sign of hope and progress, clearly showing a downward trend of homicides in PBC; hopefully that trend will continue this year. Another excerpt from the article by Whigham:

     “Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office spokesman Mike Edmondson noted that the cases involving multiple victims have been a contributing factor to this year’s spike. He added that ‘it would be difficult to suggest common denominators’ in assessing the spike.”

You’ll notice in the database there are many cities not on the list. There are 39 cities in PBC. Going back to 2009, the first year in the database, that would suggest there has not been a homicide in the following cities (17 total):
    *One homicide location in PBC is undetermined, “Unknown location, possibly in or near Belle Glade or Pahokee, an unknown community”.