Photo: Gbklyn · CC BY-SA 4.0Crime in East Lake: the figures, without a grade
Oldsmar, 5 miles away, is the nearest town with a Safety Grade (C+). East Lake has no police department of its own: it’s an unincorporated community (a census-designated place) in Pinellas County. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reports to the FBI for the parts of the county without police of their own, so there are no figures for East Lake alone, and no Safety Grade. 4 towns with a Safety Grade lie within 10 miles.
What stands out about safety in East Lake
Policed by the county
East Lake is a census-designated place, with no town government. Crimes there are reported to the FBI inside the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s totals for the county. County police ↓
Counts, not rates
The FBI doesn’t publish how many people the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office covers, so its totals can’t be turned into a per-resident rate or a grade for East Lake. County police ↓
The nearest graded towns
The closest Florida towns with their own police figures are Oldsmar (C+, 5 mi), Tarpon Springs (C+, 6 mi), Safety Harbor (B+, 8 mi). Nearby towns can differ a lot from East Lake. Nearest ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office reports
Reports to the FBI for the parts of Pinellas County without police of their own, which include East Lake.
Property crimes
Violent crimes
2025 offenses reported by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
Counts, not rates: the FBI doesn’t publish how many people each agency covers. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Tables 10–11.
Crimes reported to the FBI for the whole area the department covers, by year.
The nearest Florida towns with a Safety Grade
| Town | Grade | Distance | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oldsmar | C+ | 5 mi | 1.3 | 16.0 |
| Tarpon Springs | C+ | 6 mi | 2.4 | 14.5 |
| Safety Harbor | B+ | 8 mi | 1.2 | 5.8 |
| Dunedin | B+ | 9 mi | 0.8 | 8.2 |
| Clearwater | C | 11 mi | 2.8 | 15.8 |
| Belleair | A | 15 mi | 0.3 | 5.8 |
Straight-line distance from the center of East Lake. Nearby towns can differ a lot from East Lake.
Each town’s own police figures, per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
14 people died in crashes on East Lake’s roads in 2019–2023
East Lake had 13 fatal crashes in five years, in which 14 people died; 2 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists.
That is 8.4 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Florida towns of 25,000–100,000 people (9.7, 147 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
East Lake and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarpon Springs | C+ | 2.4 | 14.5 |
| Oldsmar | C+ | 1.3 | 16.0 |
| Palm Harbor | — | — | — |
| Keystone | — | — | — |
| Trinity | — | — | — |
| Westchase | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Palm Harbor, Keystone, Trinity and Westchase are unincorporated communities (census-designated places) with no police department of their own.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- A county agency covers a wide area. Its totals mix many communities, so they say little about any one of them.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in East Lake
Is East Lake, FL safe?
There is no Safety Grade for East Lake. The nearest Florida towns with a grade are Oldsmar (C+, 5 mi), Tarpon Springs (C+, 6 mi), Safety Harbor (B+, 8 mi).
Who polices East Lake?
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. East Lake is an unincorporated community, and the department reports to the FBI for the parts of Pinellas County without police of their own.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in East Lake.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.