As law enforcement compiles year-end crime statistics, some 2014 trends are emerging on Anna Maria Island — most notably in Holmes Beach, where home burglaries have nearly tripled.
In the city of Anna Maria, crime is primarily due to unsecured items.
Car burglaries at the beach are the main crime in the city of Bradenton Beach.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer released preliminary data in January, reporting 38 residential burglaries in 2014, up from 13 the prior year.
Thefts are on the rise as well, with 101 in 2014 and 92 in 2013, he said.
Total crimes in Holmes Beach were up to 145 in 2014, from 116 in 2013, according to Tokajer.
Holmes Beach’s aggravated assaults rose from three to six. Zeroing out for 2014 were vehicle thefts, at six the prior year, and sexual batteries, which were at two in 2013, Tokajer said.
With the burglaries, there’s been no discernible geographical pattern and no commonly stolen items, Tokajer said.
“One thing that might contribute to it is we have a more transient community,” he said.
In the past, neighbors watched out for each other, but now “the neighbor, he travels, too,” Tokajer added.
To help prevent burglaries and recover stolen items, Tokajer recommends citizens take advantage of HBPD house checks, take inventories and photographs of valuables and record serial numbers.
HBPD assigns patrols if the homeowner registers and pays $10 at the police department, 5801 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office serves the city of Anna Maria from its substation at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive, and offers building checks at no cost.
MCSO Sgt. Paul Davis, who heads the substation, presented 2014 crime statistics Jan. 22 to the Anna Maria City Commission.
“We became too complacent in paradise,” he said, explaining that 33 of the city’s 63 crimes were likely preventable because they involved unsecured items.
Five of 15 burglaries involved the “unsecured items” problem, as did the thefts of 11 unlocked bicycles, one theft from a shed, three from unlocked vehicles, four from construction sites, three thefts of unattended fishing gear from a pier and seven incidents on the beach, according to Davis.
“These were crimes of opportunity. We don’t see major crime out here, but any crime concerns us,” Davis told the commission.
“If you see something, say something,” he added after the meeting. “Give us a call and let us check it out.
“If you like it, lock it — because if you like it someone else might like it too.”
In Bradenton Beach, where the police department is at 403 Highland Ave., vehicle burglaries are the city’s main crime, according to Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale.
The chief emphasized the need to lock up valuables and utilize safekeeping options at resorts.
“We don’t have a lot of violent crime. Most of our stuff is alcohol-related,” he added.
Speciale acknowledged drinking in the bars along Bridge Street and foot patrols on the streets during season go hand and hand.
“Drinking is drinking. We have fights between best friends. And we have the type when the bars get crowded. More times than not, the bars handle them,” he said.
About recent drug activity and sexual battery in the harbor area, Speciale said, “That’s like a little community. We see the same type of crimes as on the mainland.”
Speciale declined to release any specific crime data, saying he plans to make it public after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement approves his 2014 submission.
Each year, the police departments and MCSO contribute their statistics to the FDLE as part of a statewide crime report.
According to FDLE spokeswoman Samantha Andrews, the 2014 Crime in Florida report will be released in the spring.
With more people, come more problems. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the beast. Even paradise is not immune to opportunists.