ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — During a news conference Thursday morning, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said despite a deadly armed robbery outside the Wyndham Orlando Resort, International Drive is safe.
Rose Hunt, manager of Gift Factory, agreed.
“I don't feel unsafe here at all. I feel safer here than I do at my house,” Hunt said. “I think crime, in general, is what it always has been. I don't really think it's worse than it has been before,” said Rose Hunt, manager of Gift Factory.
Channel 9's Cuthbert Langley received statistics from the Orange County Sheriff's Office that showed a significant spike in vehicle burglaries. Out of 823 crimes in 2016, 623 were vehicle burglaries, deputies said.
Meantime, reports of three different kinds of robberies were all down.
In 2015, 66 million tourists visited Orlando. So far this year, that number is up 4.3 percent.
Hunt said more people could easily lead to more crime.
“Crime is naturally going to be more, because there's more of everybody,” Hunt said.
However, a block down the street, Arshad Habibi, has a different opinion. He has owned S&A Gifts for 20 years, and said he’s seen an uptick in crime.
“I don't know if it's the job market or something or people have nothing to do, but lately, I don't know the reason behind it,” Habibi said.
To help with the crime, the sheriff’s office launched the tourist-oriented police squad, or TOPS, in 2010.
Eyewitness News found on the I-Drive district website that 10 additional deputies are on duty for extended hours to patrol the I-Drive area. Funding for the squad comes from a federal grant.