Mina responds to increase in violence
Calls on residents to come forward, help solve crimes
After a recent spate of violence in Orange County, Sheriff John Mina said he will meet next week with federal, state and local agencies to identify trends in similar crimes elsewhere in Central Florida.
The meeting comes after 13 shootings investigated by the Sheriff’s Office and the Orlando Police Department in 11 days.
The Sheriff’s Office has worked 40 homicide cases this year, Mina said. At this time last year, there were 36 homicides, according to Orlando Sentinel data.
Mina said the recent violence has not been confined to “challenging areas.” He also said residents have to play a role in helping to solve crimes.
“A lot of times with these different incidents and different beefs within the community, people know what’s going on,” Mina said. “They know about the different disagreements between family members and friends or maybe even rival drug gangs, so we need people to come forward and tell us what’s going on so we can put a stop to it.”
In many cases, that cooperation exists, Mina said. An increase in patrols and community policing programs have led to a drop in crime in areas like Pine Hills, he said. While OCSO’s homicide cases are slightly outpacing last year, OPD has seen a decrease.
The death of a woman in a Wednesday afternoon shooting at Mill Creek
Apartments on Commander Drive became the 16th homicide and 15th murder in Orlando this year, OPD spokesman Cory Burkath said. In 2018, the city saw 33 homicides and 31 murders.
The latest homicide in Orange County happened Saturday when 30-year-old Travis Glenn was found shot just west of Camping World Stadium. He later died at the hospital.
“The averages stay about the same over the past 10 or so years, so it’s not this huge increase,” Mina said of the county’s uptick in homicides. “But it does seem like people are more prone to use violence, especially with guns.”
Along with next week’s meeting, Mina said he is looking into advocating for legislative changes aimed at expanding the use of gun safes to combat recent reports of stolen weapons from Orange County pawn shops.
But when asked whether stolen guns were used in any of the shootings over the past two weeks, Mina said, “No. Absolutely not.”