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Tale of two cities: Crime is up in St. Petersburg, down in Tampa

By Jamal Thalji and Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writers: Crime in Tampa dropped 18 percent in the first half of 2009. It has been falling sharply for five years. The police chief has been lauded for it. So has the mayor who hired him. But across the bay in St. Petersburg, break-ins and thefts are rising this year. Total crime is up 9 percent.

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Dear Scott Wagman, I think there should be important changes to the St Petersburg community. I believe the most important changes are to focus on the drug dealers. They are becoming smarter, by now moving into nice communities and make them a bad place for all. They even going far as doing their own repairs to the rental property. I don’t just blame the drug dealers even police are doing all they can. But it is the owners of the rental properties that do not do back ground checks and when the community tries to inform them of the drug sales taking place they only want the money. They are not concerned unless the city gets involved. So the owners should be charged for aiding in drug sales also.

Mr Smith, 4th Ave n 35 St.