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Florida’s crime rate looks like it will decrease year over year again, but as Matt Galka tells us, violent crimes are on the rise.

When you hear the numbers, things sound good.

“The crime rate is lower by just over 3 percent,” said Gretl Plessinger with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

FDLE released a mid-year report showing that the first six months of 2016 were safer than last year.

“It’s really driven down by crimes like aggravated assault, larceny, and burglary,” said Plessinger

But it’s not all good news. Murder is up more than 15 percent and rape increased by 2 percent.

The 561 murders accounted for in the report included the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

“That could factor into the increased murder rate,” said Plessinger.

New Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil – who formerly served as Florida’s Department of Corrections Secretary – says the numbers are concerning.

“Very much so, very much so. And that’s something that we’ve all got to work on. We’ve got to sit down in each community across the state of Florida. We’ve got to look at the demographics and people being released back into our communities, often times those circumstances fuel crimes in our communities as well. Those persons don’t have opportunities,” he said.

McNeil’s new job means he inherits the county with highest crime rate in the state for two years running according to FDLE. It’s based on crimes reporter per 100,000 people.

If the dip in crime rate holds, it will be a 46 year low for the state.