HAHIRA, Ga. (WTXL) — "Hahira is a great little city its got a great heart. We just don't like crime up here," said Duane Roark.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is announcing more than $83 million in grant funding for projects aimed at improving public safety measures and addressing law enforcement staff shortages.
The Hahira Police Department is getting $604,000 from the state's public safety grant to help with personnel, crime prevention initiatives and new equipment.
Lieutenant Todd Pitchford with the Hahira Police Department said more than $276,000 of that grant will allow him to train and recruit two new officers; helping elevate some of the work their ten officers have.
"We're running one officer per shift right now on the road so by adding the two extra officers we'll be able to run multiple personnel at one time without having to have other people cover with us," said Pitchford.
Hahira Mayor Bruce Cain said adding new officers is desperately needed as their city is growing at a fast pace. Over the last 23 years, the City of Hahira has experienced a 75% growth, which is more than any other city or municipality in Lowndes County. With new developments and more commercial businesses coming in, Mayor Cain believes they'll be at 100% growth by 2028, but more growth means more crime.
"It has brought in some crime and I know the more we build there's going to be more, it always brings more crime into the area," said Cain.
According to the Police Department, Hahira has seen a 100% increase in homicides and rapes and a 200% increase in aggravated assaults in the last year.
Another part of the new funding will help the department with community policing strategies and reduce the amount of crime in the city, but they're not the only ones working to make Hahira safer.
Duane Roark is just one of the almost 3,000 members of the Deputy Dawgs Hahira Citizens Watch page on Facebook.
"It's a community page where we watch out for each other and if we see something suspicious we report it," said Roark.
It started a few years back as people starting noticing an uptick in crime around town.
"Sometimes we have things happen here in town and you know we're on the lookout for who ever's done something wrong and it's just a great way to help patrol the city," said Roark.
Pitchford said knowing that people are actively looking out for each other and helping them keep people safe helps the department be more effective.
"To have those eyes and ears out there to let us know what's going on," said Pitchford. "We can't be everywhere at one time so that community relationship is how we get our job done."
Roark said he's happy to do what he can to help.
"We want Hahira to be a safe place and the more that we can do to watch out for those here in Hahira, we're going to do it," said Roark.
Pitchford said the grant will also allow them to purchase a fingerprinting machine and mobile rapid ID, which will help them identify people wherever they are instead of bringing them to the jail. He said the funding should reach their department in the next month or two.
