Jacksonville holds the dreadful reputation of being the murder capital of Florida. With Jacksonville’s homicide rates continuing to climb over the past five years, it leaves locals wondering if 2021 will bring even more bloodshed.

If you’re a Jacksonville native and keep up with the local news, then you know it seems like practically every day there’s a new deadly shooting reported in Duval County. It’s unsettling, to say the least.

It’s difficult to accept that beneath the palm trees, the sunshine, and Jacksonville’s all-around beauty lies such a dark side to the city. 

NeighborhoodScout revealed that your chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime in Jacksonville are 1 in 154. 

News4Jax has been tracking homicides in Jacksonville for the past 20 years. Each year, between 2015-2020, Jacksonville has topped its number of homicides from the previous year.

2019 set a new horrifying homicide record. The Florida Times-Union reported that 2019 was the deadliest year in decades; murders increased by a whopping 17 percent.

 Regardless of being in a pandemic, and on lockdown part of the time in 2020, last year still managed to beat 2019’s record-breaking homicide rate. Deadly gun violence went up 22 percent in 2020, according to News4Jax. Shootings were responsible for the majority of the killings, followed by stabbings. Disturbingly, the 21 to 30-year-old age group experienced the most deaths, as reported by First Coast News.

To compare these numbers by counties, Duval County has a population of about 980,000, and Orange County (Orlando area) has a population of approximately 1.4 million, according to a 2020 report. Duval County had 176 homicides in 2020, while Orange County had only 66.

The question remains, will Jacksonville endure yet another horrific year of violence and murder, and remain Florida’s “murder capital”?

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