Lealman Crime, By the Numbers: Part 4
Domestic-related battery charges in the sheriff's Lealman study area fell from 231 in 2016 to 116 in the latest reporting period. That is a substantial decline in the recorded category, but it does not establish that domestic violence, or the number of people experiencing it, fell by half.
The row labeled “BATTERY - DOMESTIC RELATED” in documents provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff records 231 charges in calendar 2016, 213 in calendar 2021 and 116 from Aug. 5, 2025, through Aug. 5, 2026. The latest count is 115 lower than in 2016, about 50%, and 97 lower than in 2021, about 46%.
The chart follows that one row. It is not a total of every domestic-violence category in the report.
Several separate rows also decline after 2021. Domestic-related aggravated battery moves from 14 charges in 2016 to 17 in 2021 and 10 in the latest period. Domestic battery by strangulation records 12, 14 and three. Domestic-related aggravated assault records seven, 11 and six.
One smaller category moves the other way: domestic-related assault rises from three to five to six. An increase of one charge after 2021 is 20%, a reminder to read the counts alongside the percentages.
There is also an unresolved classification question. The separate spouse-battery row records 63 charges in 2016 and zero in both later periods. The documents do not explain whether that reflects changes in incidents, charge coding or some other factor. A zero in that row cannot establish that violence against spouses disappeared. Nor should those charges simply be folded into another row without knowing how the categories were used.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office compiled these figures from its own offense reports in 11 geographic grids. Reports generated by other agencies were excluded. A single report can contribute multiple applicable charges. The figures therefore do not count unique incidents, victims or convictions, and they are not adjusted for population.
They also cannot capture abuse that never reaches a police report. The Bureau of Justice Statistics' findings from the 2024 National Crime Victimization Survey estimate that 64% of domestic-violence victimizations nationwide were reported to police. That survey measures victimizations, including those not reported, rather than the selected charges used here. Its national percentage cannot be applied to Lealman to calculate a hidden local total.
For residents, the question is whether fewer charges mean fewer people being harmed, changes in reporting or classification, or a combination. The packet does not resolve that. It gives three snapshots rather than annual counts, and the latest full-year window crosses 2025 and 2026 while the earlier columns cover calendar years.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri's office could clarify the picture by explaining the spouse-battery category, providing annual counts of unique domestic-related incidents and identifying repeat incidents without exposing survivors' identities. Information about referrals to victim advocates and service needs could help residents understand what happens after an incident is recorded. Those measures are absent from this packet; their absence is not proof that services were withheld.
Gualtieri is scheduled to present at the Lealman Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Committee's Oct. 28 meeting at 6 p.m. at Lealman Exchange, 5175 45th St. N., Building A. The agenda includes citizen input and questions and discussion with the committee after the presentation. The decline deserves acknowledgment, along with an explanation of what the categories can tell residents about safety at home.
Local help: CASA Pinellas lists a 24-hour domestic-violence hotline at 727-895-4912 and online chat with an advocate. CASA offers help with safety planning. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Earlier in the series: the overall figures, burglary and vehicle theft, and drug-charge trends.