On Sunday’s "To The Point with Michael Williams," West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio says the city’s crime rate is down, and few crimes happen in the downtown area.
Contact 5 Investigator Merris Badcock fact-checked those statements using crime-rate data provided by the FBI.
In the last 10 years, the overall crime rate has fallen in West Palm Beach. Muoio is right in saying crime has fallen about a quarter since 2007.
However, when you look at individual crimes (i.e murder, aggravated assault), that trend is not always true. For example, after dropping off for a short time, the rape crime rate is almost as high as it was 10 years ago.
The city’s homicide rate also does not follow a downward trend. Instead, homicides are up one year and down the next.
Muoio also said most crimes happen outside of downtown. WPTV decided to take a look at the most serious crime: homicides. Using a map from our news partners at the Palm Beach Post, you can see most happen just north of downtown.
WPTV’s Niels Heimeriks contributed to this report.