THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) — Thomasville Police are on a mission to curb crime in the city.
Crime stats for 2019 show that for the 5th year in a row overall crime in Thomasville is down 13 percent. Police have plans to increase their efforts this year to continue the trend.
People in Thomasville have mixed emotions when it comes to crime. Some people tell ABC 27 they believe it's getting better while others wish they would see more patrol cars in their neighborhood.
"I mean it's not the best, it could be better," said Kalauni Arrgil, who lives in Thomasville.
Kalauni Arrgil hopes to see crime go down while her neighborhood on Wright Street improves.
"I hope to see some more police patrol and monitoring," said Arrgil.
She has lived in Thomasville for most of her life. As a mother now, she hopes to see more change for the safety of her 4-year-old son.
"I would like to leave him outside to play but I can't with all the other stuff going on," Arrgil explained.
Believe it or not, Thomasville Police say crime rates in the city are going down. New data collected by the police department and the FBI, found overall crime in 2019 was down by 13 percent compared to 2018.
"We are blessed we have a very very blessed community," said Major Wade Glover with the Thomasville Police Department.
Major Glover says property crimes such as burglaries dropped by 40 percent. Homicides are also down by 50 percent.
However, police did see an up-tick in violent crimes such as aggravated assaults.
"We can't necessarily control the decisions people make but if someone becomes a victim we are going to do what we can to place that person in custody," said Major Glover.
Major Glover says the department owes a lot of this past year's success to the countless amount of hours police have spent getting to know the people that make up Thomasville.
"Our community... we've built so much trust with them, they contact law enforcement," said Major Glover. "If they see something that's not just right, they are giving us a call."
Increasing community outreach and patrolling efforts are what police at TPD are focused on for 2020, all in hopes of making Thomasville a safer place to live.
