It’s the kind of number that looks like a typo: St. Johns County — home to more than 300,000 residents and one of Florida’s fastest-growing areas — recorded zero criminal homicides in 2025.
Sheriff Robert Hardwick told The Citizen that the distinction holds under Florida’s definition of the crime as “the unlawful killing of another human being.”
“No homicide occurred in St. Johns County in 2025,” he told The Citizen.
That puts the county in almost inconceivably rare territory. Among the more than 100 U.S. counties with populations above 300,000, St. Johns appears to be the only one to report criminal zero killings last year.
Hardwick handled the milestone gingerly. “Sometimes you whisper accomplishments because you don’t want to take them for granted,” he said. “We’re truly blessed.”
While it’s the kind of public-safety triumph that could anchor a re-election campaign, he stressed that it was built on work extending beyond the walls of his St. Augustine office.
Hardwick pointed to a blend of policing strategy, community cooperation, and sustained institutional support as the agency’s recipe for success. The result, he said, reflects a climate where residents feel comfortable calling law enforcement when needed.
Building that rapport takes consistent effort across generations and demographics, he added. Education, outreach, and technology all play a part, along with what he called “old-fashioned police work” and some luck.
Investment, Hardwick said, undergirds the entire agency. Each year, county leaders fund a budget that prioritizes training, equipment, and competitive pay for deputies. “It starts with the county commissioners and the county administrator believing in us,” he said.
Technology-driven enforcement has become both a vital tool and a deterrent, from the agency’s real-time intelligence center to license plate readers on Interstate 95.
Combined with visible, professional policing and steady communication with the public, those measures have been key to prevention, he said.
Still, Hardwick emphasized that one remarkably peaceful run doesn’t guarantee the next.
“We had a great year — and a lucky one,” he said. “But we don’t take it for granted.”
He recalled the 1990s, when domestic-violence homicides ran high, as a reminder of how quickly conditions can change.
“There’s no single reason for a year like this,” he said. “It’s cumulative — a lot of variables.”
He credited his deputies and the community for creating a sense of shared safety. With St. Johns County continuing to grow at a blistering rate, he said the mission — and challenge — remains clear:
“We want people to feel safe,” he said. “We want them to know that they live in one of the safest communities in the country.”
