ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg homicides detectives have already investigated 25 cases this year. That far exceeds the yearly average of 20, and a total of 15 murder cases all of last year.
"Sooner or later, you’re going to get that burnout," Chief Anthony Holloway acknowledged, "So, you try to figure out who can I bring on back in, so to speak co-investigate help interview witnesses."
Chief Holloway says his department usually has about 15 homicide detectives on the street. But, this year that number has occasionally swelled to twice that as the department rotates in qualified burglary and fraud detectives to help handle the uptick in deadly shootings.
"You could grab a detective that normally works burglaries. A detective that normally works fraud," said Holloway. “So, you can bring him or her into that unit to help out.”
Fortunately, St. Petersburg detectives have skillfully and quickly solved 22 of the homicide cases so far this year.
Chief Holloway credits his detectives’ dedication and hard work, but also tips from the public. In doing so, they’ve made arrests before even more harm could be done and avoid cases stacking up.
"Without the community talking to us and without us getting witnesses we wouldn’t be able to close the cases that were closing right now," said Chief Holloway.
Still, people have concerns about a department being stressed in ways it hasn’t seen in recent memory, and what that could mean for public safety.
“If the crime isn’t solved and there’s going to be more crime,” said Chris Fox, who doesn’t live far from the police station.
Samantha Boyd, who just started working near downtown agreed.
“I mean, it takes a toll on people to have a lot on their plate. Especially doing that kind of work,” said Boyd.
“When a homicide comes in we’re going to make sure we have the right team in the right detectives fresh to go,” Chief Holloway said.
The Chief says there is also constant oversight to avoid burnout including a sergeant and assistant chief monitoring the homicide unit to make sure detectives don’t take on more than they can handle.
That important, says Chief Holloway, in a year when there’s unfortunately been ample opportunity for that to happen.
“We want someone that’s fresh. Ready to go. So, we make sure that we bring justice to the family and we solve the case that needs to be solved,” said Chief Holloway.
To help deal with the stress, St. Petersburg police also has a licensed psychologist assigned to the department, so detectives have someone to speak with if they feel they need to.