Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya delivered a quarterly crime report to the City Commission on May 21, as both outlined an expanded public safety strategy focused on preventing domestic, dating and sexual violence.
Homicides
Moya shared data with the seven-member City Commission covering crime analytics from Jan. 1, 2026, through March 31, 2026, while comparing the same quarter in the previous three years back to 2023.
So far in 2026, Gainesville recorded a total of 216 violent crimes. In that quarter, GPD reported 144 aggravated assaults, 57 burglaries, 37 rapes, 32 robberies and three homicides. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), GPD’s crime reporting system, notes that the data counts incidents, not the number of victims.
While not part of the quarterly report, Moya mentioned three additional homicides in May.
He referenced a recent incident in the Phoenix community where a victim was shot and killed May 1, and two homicides May 10 — a stabbing and a shooting that killed a 17-year-old on Mother’s Day.
Moya added that the Police Department and Gainesville Fire Rescue have noticed Mother’s Day has recently been a “busy public safety day,” prompting increased staffing similar to holidays like Easter.
Regarding the 17-year-old’s death, Moya said the investigation is ongoing but a suspect has been identified.
“The discussion with the State Attorney’s Office (suggests) it was not a random act of violence. So far, I don’t see any indication that it was a gang-related act of violence,” Moya said. “Nonetheless, it resulted in the death of a young kid.”
While working on that investigation, Moya said he was alerted to another homicide — a stabbing in the Pleasant Street neighborhood. He described the victim as someone the department was “familiar with,” and said the suspect, who has since been arrested, knew the victim, with the two having an unspecified “beef.”
Dating violence
Moya said GPD responded to 810 domestic disturbance and domestic battery calls, recorded 558 domestic or dating violence incidents and made 252 related arrests from Jan. 1 to April 27, 2026.
In all of 2025, GPD responded to 2,347 such calls, recorded 1,649 incidents and made 682 related arrests. Moya said these incidents raise difficult questions about how families cope and how to reduce violence in private settings.
“What happens after the arrests? Primarily, I want to ensure our victims are serviced first, but there may be opportunities for offenders also to receive services so that they don’t repeat violence because, sadly, often times what we see in many cases is these relationships come back together,” Moya said.
Highlighting dating violence as an area needing deeper examination, Moya said he raised the issue at his monthly prayer group.
After compiling data for a status report, he said he became concerned.
“What I see is an ongoing steady flow of familial violence, also known as domestic or dating violence. Now the incidents have repeated acts of domestic violence by the same offender, so it makes me wonder what can we do, what lanes can we dissect to ensure we’re optimizing all our efforts to reduce this,” Moya said.
Moya called the numbers alarming but said the issue is not unique to Gainesville.
In response, he added a Criminal Investigations Bureau detective to assist with domestic and dating violence cases.
A citywide press release said the department is launching a public awareness campaign focused on building healthy relationships, recognizing warning signs, finding local resources and knowing when to seek help.
The department is also using the nationally recognized Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), which helps officers identify high-risk situations and connect victims with advocacy organizations, emergency services and prevention and support groups.
Mayor Harvey Ward said the community must apply the same focus used to address gun violence to dating violence, adding abuse will not be ignored and help is available.
“This is hard. This is what’s going on in people’s homes. This is not something we can police on the streets and fix it. This is involves a lot more than law enforcement — it has to be a collaborative approach that involves prevention way back down the line and has to involve law enforcement, victim advocates, educators, health care providers, nonprofits and support survivors,” Ward said.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: GPD, City Commission target uptick in domestic violence trends
Reporting by Elliot Tritto, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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