What Are The 100 Most Dangerous American Cities After Dark?

Only six Florida cities appeared on this list, and only one of them, Riviera Beach at No. 48, was in the top fifty. So, hooray for us.

In 2016, a dozen Florida cities made the list, and in 2010, Ft. Meyers was in the top ten. Today, the number of Florida cities is down by half, none of them ranked very high, and Ft. Myers isn’t on the list. “Once we have this complete and accurate count of crimes for every city in the nation, our analysis takes the violent crimes for each city with 25,000 or more people, and divides them by the population of the city, divided by 1,000.  This establishes a violent crime rate per 1,000 population that is used to compare every city<’ the study authors wrote.

The other Florida cities on the naughty list were Melbourne (98th), Panama City (83rd), Lake Worth (72nd), Daytona Beach (68th), and Palm Springs (58th).

DUI

Statistically, about 85 percent of DUIs happen at night. Quite frankly, we’re surprised the daytime DUI percentage is so high.

Most DUIs involve chemical tests. The test is nearly always a Breathalyzer. Many people think that if they fail breath tests, they are automatically guilty. Chemical test cases are certainly easier to prove than non-test cases, which is why the conviction rate is quite a bit higher in chemical test cases. However, the Breathalyzer has some flaws, such as:

• Calibration Issues: When police Breathalyzer technicians take the stand, they often go on and on about all the Breathalyzer’s features. The more moving parts any gadget has, the more maintenance it needs. Several years ago, a Massachusetts judge threw out thousands of Breathalyzer test results because technicians hadn’t calibrated the gadgets.
• Unabsorbed Alcohol: When people drink, the alcohol travels from the stomach to the liver to the blood, instead of directly from the stomach to the blood. Because of that extra digestive step, if the defendant had been drinking in the last hour or two, that alcohol hasn’t yet infected the blood.
• Ketone Particles: Diabetics, smokers, and some other people have naturally high ketone levels. Usually, Breathalyzers register these particles as ethanol. So, these individuals usually can’t pass a Breathalyzer test, whether they are drunk, sober, or somewhere in between.

Blood tests are a lot more reliable. But officers don’t use these tests too much. The Supreme Court has ruled that officers must have search warrants to extract blood samples from defendants. Most officers don’t want to do that extra work.

Violent Crime

Ordinary assault and aggravated assault are the most common kinds of violent crime in Hillsborough County. In each case, the alleged victim, and not a police officer, is the key witness.

Police officers are, in effect, professional witnesses. They receive special training in this area and they have testified in court hundreds or thousands of times. Alleged victims have none of these advantages. Additionally, alleged victims were often drinking prior to the assault or aggravated assault. A Tampa criminal defense attorney can exploit these flaws and undermine the alleged victim’s credibility. Attorneys don’t have to completely discredit victims or other witnesses. Instead, Tampa criminal defense attorneys need only create reasonable doubt.

Witness problems continue during the lineup phase. Usually, the alleged victim picks the defendant out of a blind live or photo lineup. The witness doesn’t know who the suspect is, but the administering officer knows. These lineups are much less reliable than double blind lineups, when neither the witness nor the administering officer knows the suspect’s identity.

Attorneys use such evidence weaknesses to obtain favorable plea bargains in these cases. Frequently, that plea bargain includes a charge reduction. For example, prosecutors might reduce aggravated assault charges to ordinary assault charges, or they might reduce murder to manslaughter.

Contact a Thorough Hillsborough County Attorney

A criminal charge is not the same thing as a criminal conviction. For a free consultation with an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Tampa, contact the OA Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Sunshine State.

Source:

espnswfl.com/listicle/these-are-the-6-most-most-dangerous-florida-cities-after-dark/