The number of crimes reported in Sarasota County remained flat during the first half of 2018, while rising by 8.9 percent in Manatee County, according to new statistics published by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The report compared the number of crimes reported between January and June of this year to the number of crimes reported during the first half of 2017. The "total crime index" in Sarasota County stayed the same at 4,237, while the index in Manatee County rose from 4,257 to 4,634. In Florida as a whole, the crime index fell by 8 percent.