Crime down nationwide, rising in Atlanta
The FBIs annual compendium of national crime stats shows a decrease in every major category of crime nationwide.
Atlanta, on the other hand, registered an overall increase in crime of 11 percent, driven by double-digit increases in the number of robberies, burglaries, auto thefts and murders.
Neither the mayors office nor Atlanta police Chief Richard Penningtons office were willing to comment, but APD Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of Atlantas police union, blames part of the increase on sagging morale among the rank-and-file. Its the result, Kreher says, of the citys failure to adequately fund the department as well as what he describes as Penningtons absentee leadership. Kreher says he hopes the mayor will replace Pennington with someone else from within the department.
City Council President Lisa Borders — who is also a candidate for mayor — calls the increase in crime “unacceptable” and says it must be addressed by city leaders immediately. “At this pace, increased crime threatens to reverse many, if not all of the gains the city has made over the past decade,” she says.
(Chart by Erin Washburn)
(NOTE: The print edition of Creative Loafing includes a mislabeled version of the chart shown above. I apologize for the error.)