
St. Petersburg Police Department
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — You have to go all the way back to the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to find a year as peaceful as 2025 in St. Petersburg.
In a report released Thursday, the city confirmed it recorded just 10 homicides over the last year. To put that in perspective, the last time the number was that low was 1967, when the city saw six.
The new figures, submitted as part of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data, show a sharp departure from recent trends. The homicide count didn’t just inch down; it plummeted by 44% compared to the year before, which saw 18 deaths. It’s also sitting 44% lower than the five-year average.
It wasn’t just violent crime that took a hit, either. Total crime across the city dropped 16%.
Police Chief Anthony Holloway credited the shift to a mix of old-school police work and new-school tools.
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“I’m pleased that the hard work of our officers and detectives, along with the use of the latest crime-fighting technology, is paying off—and the numbers prove it,” Holloway said.
Residents might notice the difference on their daily commute, too. The report highlighted a significant drop in tragedy on the roads, with fatal crashes falling from 35 the previous year to 24 in 2025—a 31% decline.
Property crimes followed the same downward trajectory. Auto thefts, often a stubborn issue for cities of this size, were down 29%. The city usually averages about 735 thefts over a five-year period, but 2025 saw that number slashed to 406. Robberies also came in well under the statistical average, dropping to 175.
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