Thursday, June 19, 2008
News Crime down nationwide, rising in Atlanta
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 7:58 PM
The FBI’s 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 mayor’s office nor Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington’s office were willing to comment, but APD Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of Atlanta’s police union, blames part of the increase on sagging morale among the rank-and-file. It’s the result, Kreher says, of the city’s failure to adequately fund the department as well as what he describes as Pennington’s 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.)
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