As people go about killing other people in Jacksonville, some of the killings are called homicides. Other killings are called murder in what is becoming known as the murder capital of Florida.
As it chronicles the carnage, an aspect of the Times-Union’s stepped up coverage includes reporting the number of homicides compared to the same number of homicides a year ago.
That has caused confusion among readers; some have asked why the newspaper’s numbers are different than the murder count they hear on television.
The murder rate is a key indicator when crime statistics are measured and compared. Seldom does one hear about homicide rates, or see comparisons based on homicides.
At week’s end, 56 homicides had been recorded in the city for this year, according to the sheriff. Of those, 48 have been classified as murder by the state attorney.
Some people have accused the newspaper of focusing on homicides because the higher number makes the situation sound worse than the number of murders. While that isn’t the case, some explanations are in order.
A homicide is one person killing another person, no matter the reason. A person killing another is called a murder when it is deemed a crime. There are many gradations of murder, but they generally fall into premeditated murder, felony murder during the commission of a crime and manslaughter.
Homicides would include justifiable, excusable or accidental killings, and are not deemed a crime.
This year’s eight justifiable homicides have included three police officers shooting people in the line of duty, several killings in self-defense, and the matter of a child shooting another child.
State Attorney Harry Shorstein said he thinks it is appropriate to focus on the homicide rate in a city that is under scrutiny for its murder rate.
“I would think each of the non-criminal homicides are as reflective of the problem as what we call murders,” the state attorney said. He added that often whether a killing is a murder or a homicide depends on who shoots first.
How about the case in which an 8-year-old boy shot his 5-year-old sister, resulting in the mother being charged with culpable negligence?
The mother said she bought the gun out of fear for her safety only one day before the shooting. Did not the increased fear of crime or being killed that now characterizes Jacksonville contribute to that child’s death? Shorstein thinks so.
The Sheriff’s Office argues attention should be focused on the murder rate, in part because state and federal agencies that track and report crimes don’t measure homicides.
“As a city, what we are being judged on is the murder rate, not homicides,” said Micheal Edwards, director of investigations and homeland security for the Sheriff’s Office. He keeps track of both categories for a department that can show sharp declines in nearly all areas of violent crime except murder.
While it is unusual to focus on homicides, as opposed to murders, the newspaper should not allow the criminal justice bureaucracy to define or narrow its terms for this important local story, in my view.
In examining why there are so many killings, the numbers will mean less if they exclude those who died in violent situations but aren’t counted because of who shot first. Surely, the measures must include the shooting death of a 5-year-old if they are to reflect reality and account for this community’s pain.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will soon release its annual report on crime, including 2005 data that will allow comparisons of murder rate by county. The newsroom will report the murder comparisons, but not homicides because those aren’t measured by FDLE.
In other stories, readers can expect to continue seeing the number of homicides, with occasional references to the number of murders, along with explanations about the differences.
That’s because the city’s quest to solve its killing problem most likely will rely on solutions that will address both murder and noncriminal homicides. The solutions will mean little if the murder rate is reduced, but 5-year-olds and others are still dying under the classification of homicide.
