MEDIA RELEASE

February 9, 2015
2014 PART-1 CRIME STATISTICS SHOW 7% INCREASE IN CRIME OVER 2013,YET FOURTH
LOWEST CRIME RATE SINCE 2005
Columbus Police Department Clearance Rate at 18.2%, Highest Rate Since 2002
Columbus, Georgia reported 14,413 Part-1 Crimes in 2014, up 7% (or 959 crimes) from the
13,454 Part-1 Crimes that occurred in 2013. Crime was up in every one of the Part-1 Crime
categories except Murder, which remained the same as last year:
Crime
Homicide
Rape
Robbery
Aggravated Assault
Burglary
Larceny
Theft by Taking MV
Part-One Total

2013

2014

22
36
481
485
3,355
7,965
1,110
13,454

# Increase

22
47
511
520
3,711
8,430
1,172
14,413

% Increase

0
11
30
35
356
465
62
959

0
31
6
7
11
6
6
7

Despite the increase, Part-1 Crimes for 2014 are the fourth lowest crime rate since 2005, when
the population of Columbus was 20,000 less. The lowest rate in the last ten years occurred in
2012, the second lowest rate in 2011 and the third lowest rate in 2013.
Part-I Crimes 2005-2014
18,000
16,000
14,116

14,992 15,169

15,795 15,817
14,426

14,413
13,345

14,000

13,454
12,539

12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

The Part-1 Crime Clearance Rate for 2014 was 18.2%, the highest Clearance Rate the Police
Department has had for Part-1 Crimes since 2002. As to more severe cases assigned to
investigators, the Police Department has a 50.2% Clearance Rate. Petty thefts typically are not
assigned to investigators until there is a suspect. Police Department Attrition Rates also show
the biggest improvements since 2009 at a Vacancy Filled Rate of 143.6%, meaning significantly
more officers were hired than left the Department whether due to retirement, termination, or
resignation. The Department credits this improvement in large part to its new recruitment
campaign called Join the Force for Good.
Burglaries hit us very hard in the third and fourth quarter of 2013, as compared to other
quarters and other years, said Mayor Teresa Tomlinson. We still consider ourselves to be on
a lower plateau of annual Part-1 Crime rate occurrences than we had in the 2006-2009 preOLOST timeframe, but if this trend continues this year, we will not be and that is why we are
putting such an emphasis on investigations and clearance rates. We want to make sure we
have the right people in jail with strong cases that will keep them there for a long time. Thats
the way law enforcement can meaningfully improve on these Burglary, Robbery and Motor
Vehicle Theft numbers.
Crime rates fluctuate. You are going to have some low years, like 2012, and years that are
higher, like 2014, said Police Chief Rick Boren. We still feel like there is measurable
improvement than before the OLOST and that investment has paid off for the citizens.
Mayor Tomlinson added, Our next objective is to make sure we are streamlining the resources
meant for law enforcement to avoid unproductive and costly duplication and to enhance our
911 responders. We have seen Intelligence-Led Policing work, we have seen other investments
work, but now we need to take that next step to make sure we have the investigators and
support resources necessary to close the loop on these crimes.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Mayor Teresa Tomlinson (706) 225-3167
Chief Rick Boren (706) 653-3100