Crime in the Polk County is down 8.48 percent in the first six months of this year, the sheriff’s office reports, and part of that decline is due to a 17.1 percent drop in violent crimes.

According to the Uniform Crime Report statistics, which are reported twice a year to the FDLE, there were 455 fewer crimes overall in the first six months this year than in the first six months of 2011 in the Sheriff’s Office’s primary jurisdiction.