- Thomasville Police Department had a total of 464 larceny crimes in 2021. That number jumped to 558 in 2022.
- That's a 20 percent increase.
Check out the video above to find out how TPD is partnering with local faith leaders to help lower that number.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
"We can conquer more by working together then being divided," said Marcus Everett, Bishop, River of Life Evangelistic Center.
Working together—That's what the Thomasville Police Department is trying to do. They're now calling on local faith leaders to help them do it.
After checking TPD's annual report I noticed a trend concerning car break-ins.
According to TPD Thomasville had a total of 464 larceny crimes in 2021. That number jumped to 558 in 2022. That's a 20% increase in a year's time.
TPD isn't giving up the fight to get this under control.
"We'd always like to reduce the amount of property crimes that are going on because that does tend to be our highest frequency crime, in particular, entering autos," said Crystal Parker, Community Relations Officer, TPD.
That's Corporal Crystal Parker. She tells me the number one item being stolen from cars is guns.
TPD has a game plan to fix that—here's how.
It's called Faith & Blue. A national initiative meant to bring together law enforcement and faith leaders to help build bridges in the community.
"The goal behind it is if you can unite law enforcement with faith leaders, those faith leaders can help bring our message to their congregation," said Parker.
An initiative Pastors Marcus and Christine Everett were happy to get behind. Especially since they had special ties with the force.
"We got involved with faith and blue because my daughter is a police officer," said Christine Everett, First Lady, Rivers of Life Evangelistic Center.
Their daughter, Jamica Elise Thomas, has been with the force for 7 years. Now her parents are helping their community right alongside her.
"If they can come to us and believe in us as pastors maybe we can be a resource for them. We can be a scape between the parents and police department," said Everett.
TPD has organized a Unity Walk for Saturday. It starts at 10:45 in the morning here at the intersection of Crawford and Jackson Streets.
