Tampa, St. Pete homicides, other crimes drop to lowest level in 50+ years — here’s what helped

St. Pete, Tampa report lower homicide numbers

Two of our major cities in the Bay Area saw the lowest number of homicides last year -- in more than 50 years. The chiefs' of police in Tampa and St. Pete said that's not the only crime that dropped. FOX 13's Briona Arradondo reports. 

TAMPA, Fla. - As officers begin their shifts, new stats are showing their hard work is paying off in a big way. Both St. Petersburg and Tampa marked the lowest number of homicides in 2025 in more than 50 years. 

By the numbers:

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said the city had the lowest homicide rate in nearly 60 years. In 2025, 10 people were killed, and the number hasn’t been that low since 1967, when six people were killed,

"It tells us one, that the community is starting to, maybe people are able to solve their problems without guns," said Holloway. "I think the biggest thing is our GRID team, gun response investigation team. And what that is, anytime shots are fired, we can recover shell casings. We send detectives out there to recover the shell casings, so we can try to match those up with other, with other shootings or other things that happen in the city."

RELATED: Crime rates declining in St. Petersburg: Police

Tampa police are also seeing numbers go in a better direction, too. According to the Tampa Police Department,19 people were murdered in 2025, the lowest in over half a century. 

Tampa police credits better community relationships and better technology.

"We all remember the Julio Folio case from Jacksonville that came here. The only reason we were able to solve that murder was through technology," said Chief Lee Bercaw of Tampa Police Department.

What we know:

Sometimes, guns used in crimes are found on the street.

"We had a lot of guns that were stolen out of cars. We're seeing a decline in that because of our messaging to take the guns out of your cars and lock your cars," said Bercaw.

Those crimes kept St. Petersburg officers busy too, especially with teens.

READ: Youth programs like St. Pete's Teen Flex Night help curb teen violence

"We're still seeing teens mostly that are doing it. It's joyriding what we talk about. They're not stealing cars and selling cars," said Holloway. "They're stealing cars. When they run out of gas, then they go get another car."

However, auto theft overall is down.

Dig deeper:

Law enforcement agencies typically report the crime numbers through the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program, which Holloway said only counts the highest charge. 

St. Pete police currently use this system, but Holloway said they run the new method, the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), in the background. Holloway said the department will eventually switch over fully to the new, more detailed method.  

"We switched from UCR, the Uniform Crime Reporting, to NIBRS, which is a new FBI reporting system which all agencies should be reporting that way. So, it is comparing apples to apples," said Bercaw.

Depending on the crime though, Bercaw said the numbers can vary.  

"But one interesting point about auto thefts is the auto-thefts out there, the electric bikes. We unfortunately had to report those as stolen vehicles, which did increase the numbers," said Bercaw. "We still had a significant reduction in auto theft, but had we not had to report those thefts, they would have been even lower."

Both chiefs of police said people are reaching out more and giving tips in a way they didn’t see five years or so ago.

Holloway said license plate readers help them better track cars and people behind the wheel involved in crimes. And as technology evolves, they are looking to see how it can help them stay ahead of crimes.