Homicides, rapes in Atlanta soar despite other decreasing violent crime: 'Feels like "Groundhog Day"'

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/homicides-rapes-atlanta-soar-2022

So far in 2022, homicides are up 43% compared to the same time period in
2021

Atlanta is grappling with violent crime trends that have continued from
2021 into the new year, and local officials are working to come up with
new solutions.

The southern city saw a 30-year record in homicides last year, when it had
158 murders compared to 157 in 2020 and 99 in 2019.

So far in 2022, homicides are up 43% compared to the same time period in
2021, with 20 total homicides reported this year compared to 14 at the
same time last year. Rapes are up an astounding 236%, with 37 reported so
far this year compared to 11 at the same time in 2021. Other violent
crime, such as aggravated assault, is down year-over-year.

Police discuss trends
The Atlanta Police Department met with a group of local agencies on Feb.
16 to come up with solutions to keep their communities safe.

"We’ve been talking about the same thing over and over again," an APD
spokesperson told Fox News Digital, adding that the meeting occurred so
that the APD could share information with bordering cities dealing with
similar crime trends ranging from homicides to criminal street racing.

"So we all just came together to talk about what we’re seeing, what are
some of the solutions? What are some of the things another department is
using that we may not have thought of?" the spokesperson said.

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And while property crime is down 10% year-over-year — though there are
questions surrounding how those crimes are reported — APD noted "a glaring
recurring factor" in a Feb. 16 Facebook post announcing the arrest of
several repeat property crime suspects.

"[M]any of our arrestees are repeat offenders," the police department
wrote.

Between the four suspects arrested, there were 155 prior arrests and 30
convictions, as FOX 5 Atlanta first reported.

"No matter our tenacity and/or our success in making these arrests, we are
clear that we cannot arrest our way out of this dilemma. Police alone
cannot fix the repeat offender or crime problem. We arrest them, and we
will take them to jail, but that isn’t enough," APD wrote. "The entire
criminal justice system and the community must work together for change to
occur. If not, the revolving door will continue to rotate and the daily
scene, which oftentimes looks and feels like ‘Groundhog Day’ (the movie),
will continue in perpetuity."

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The Department added that it is nevertheless "undeterred" and "will remain
relentless" in its "pursuit of lawbreakers" and its mission to make and
keep Atlanta safe.

The mayor's office did not respond to an interview request from Fox News
Digital.

Behind the violence
"There's definitely a crime spike," Volkan Topalli, professor of Criminal
Justice at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy
Studies, told Fox News Digital, noting at the same time that the current
crime rate is still significantly lower than what it was in Atlanta some
30 years ago.

The long-time criminologist shocked the Atlanta community last year when
he himself was shot while he was out buying mulch in an area of the city
that had been seeing a recent uptick in crime. Topalli had gotten caught
in the crossfire between two groups shooting at each other when he stepped
outside the store.

"[W]hen we have these sort of conflicts, and we have areas where there
have been problems, we don't pay attention to those areas," he explained.
"When we don't address those areas … events like this will happen. It may
have been a low chance that I was the one to get shot, but somebody was
going to get shot."

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While the circumstance was rare for Topalli, homicide and unintentional
injury were the leading causes of death for Black males between the ages
of 1 and 24 in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).

"That's a very disturbing statistic," the professor said. "So, it's not
just that we know where violence is concentrated and who's perpetrating,
but we also know who the victims of the violence are. And I think we need
to focus on that, as well."

Potential solutions
Topalli has spent much of his professional career interviewing offenders
in major cities like Atlanta to better understand what drives them to
commit crimes.

"I think most people have this idea that homicides and assaults are the
result of robberies gone bad," Topalli told Fox News. "And there is a fair
amount of that. But actually, a lot of the violence we're seeing during
the spike…and that was there before the spike, as well, is really
conflicts that develop between individuals."

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He added that access to firearms can escalate conflicts between
individuals that might otherwise be resolved in a fistfight.

More than 2,000 firearms were stolen from vehicles in Atlanta last year,
according to FOX 5 Atlanta.

Human behavior patterns that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the
Black Lives Matter movement, which Topalli described as a police
accountability movement, as well as work and school closures, have
contributed to the spike in violent crime not only in Atlanta but in other
major cities like Chicago and Philadelphia. The unpredictability of those
circumstances also made it more difficult for police to combat violent
crime, he said.

Topalli believes that additional funding, not just for police and police
technology like CCTV cameras but for community-based crime intervention
programs and educational programs, will help cities like Atlanta combat
violent crime.

Many major U.S. cities implemented or strengthened their community-based
violence prevention programs over the past two years since the May 2020
murder of George Floyd. Individuals who make up community crime prevention
programs are oftentimes previous offenders or general friends of the
neighborhood, which can make it easier for those experiencing conflict to
seek advice.

"I think that it's that's been missing in the United States for a long
time," Topalli said of the community crime prevention programs. "In
America, we tend to think of crime as purely the purview of police
departments, and I don't think that's really… law enforcement can't do
everything. They need the community to be in there with them on these
things. So funding some community-based efforts like violence,
interruption programs, I think is a really, really good first step."



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