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Gainesville Police report declines in several violent-crime categories but stress ongoing gun-violence response and recruiting progress
Summary
Chief Nelson Moya reported decreases in violent and property crimes for the quarter but noted upticks in aggravated battery reports and ongoing investigations into recent fatal shootings; GPD highlighted gun-violence unit activity, crisis co-responder work, and an improving recruiting pipeline.
Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya presented the department’s second-quarter statistics on May 1, reporting year-over-year declines in many violent- and property-crime categories while cautioning that recent shootings and homicides remain priorities.
Chief Moya said some violent-crime categories decreased compared with the prior year’s quarter, but the city recorded a modest increase in reported aggravated battery incidents (from 31 to 36, a 16% increase for the quarter). He confirmed the department had 1 homicide in the quarter and said the number of persons shot was down to two for that reporting period; he added that recent shootings had created “a heavy heart” for the department.
Captain Harris Owens, who leads the Criminal Investigations Bureau and GPD’s gun-violence unit, gave an operational update: the unit conducted 103 traffic stops during the quarter and had 17 arrests tied to gun-violence warrants. Owens described collaboration with Alachua County victim services and other partners, and he stressed lethality assessments and victim-advocate services for domestic-violence cases.
GPD’s co-responder and mental-health teams also reported activity. Lieutenant Lisa Scott described outreach and safety-barrier zone enforcement around homelessness service areas and summarized co-responder work: 605 correspondent unit calls for service in the quarter, 26 Baker Act-related transports, and training and cross-agency coordination. Scott and others said co-responder efforts reduce jail and emergency department use.
Major Jamie Kerner reported recruiting progress: 152 applications in the quarter and a hiring pipeline expected to place 22 non‑certified officers into the June academy; she said the department had 18 sworn vacancies and a goal to reduce that to zero as recruitment and background checks progress. Chief Moya thanked field training officers for intensive one‑on‑one work with new hires and said the department had cut overtime expenditures by roughly 50% compared with the prior year as scheduling and 12‑hour shift adjustments took effect.
Commissioners and staff discussed fatal-traffic hotspots and enforcement strategies, and several commissioners praised the department’s co-responder program and outreach work. No public speakers commented during the presentation.
