THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - Thomasville Police say, in the past two months they've seen the number of property crimes rise to an alarming amount.
"It's extremely frustrating once you know these crimes are reaching epidemic proportions and there is very little you can do to keep them incarcerated," said Captain Maurice Holmes.
In the last 60 days, Thomasville Police say they have worked 27 burglaries, 22 entering autos and 30 shoplifting cases. All of them have one thing in common: teenagers.
"These juveniles that are running freely in the city and committing most all of our property crimes," said Holmes.
Over the summer, the police department saw this same rise in crime with this same group of teens. Now, police say they are back out on the streets doing it again, this time not targeting houses but businesses.
"They are not only getting more brazen but more educated on how to commit these crimes, example they cut the alarm system for two of our most recent commercial burglaries," Holmes explained.
Police say along with that they are also taking routes to these locations that keep them from being seen.
"The thing is locating them and getting out with them a lot of these kids are taking backways, pathways, and trails and are not seen by law enforcement and the public," said Holmes.
There are rules in place to try to prevent these kids some as young as 12 from being out at night; curfew is 11 p.m. in the city of Thomasville.
"Parents need to be taking responsibility of these children, they need to be aware of where their children are," said Holmes.
