Aggravated assaults, robberies and motor vehicle thefts have declined in Athens-Clarke County this year, while the community has not recorded a homicide as of Sept. 23.
Mayor Kelly Girtz outlined the trends during a Sept. 23 news conference with University of Georgia journalism students, framing public safety as not only policing but also prevention, infrastructure and social services.
Aggravated assaults had fallen 18% through September, robberies 21% and motor vehicle thefts 24% compared to 2024. Girtz pointed to measures such as fully staffing the police force and using the Real Time Crime Center as part of the county’s broader strategy.
The Real Time Crime Center integrates public and private security cameras into a single monitoring hub. Girtz cited the 2023 Five Points shooting as an example in which police used video feeds to identify suspects and make arrests within a day.
“We were able to trace that vehicle and that gun to where it was disposed of in a trash can, and we were able to make arrests in less than a day,” Girtz said.
Girtz said 2024 marked the first year in more than two decades that the Athens-Clarke County Police Department had every certified police officer position filled. The county currently employs 243 sworn officers, supported by a pay plan that begins at $57,560 with a $10,000 hiring incentive.
Each officer completes six months of post-certification training and 40 hours of crisis intervention training, which Girtz said is five times the state’s minimum annual requirement. You could also combine this into the other paragraph.
We want to make sure that people are well versed in engaging with every member of the public, rich or poor, Black or white, young or old,” Girtz said.
Girtz said prevention efforts are more valuable than reacting after crimes occur, and that governments should prioritize early investment.
The county’s Neighborhood Leaders Program since 2020 has hired community staff to connect residents with jobs, food and housing resources. That work has helped local families claim more than $9 million annually in SNAP benefits they were eligible for but had not accessed.
Housing redevelopment projects have also been central. Columbia Brookside, a partnership with the Athens Housing Authority, tripled the number of residents in the neighborhood while reducing crime by more than half.
A similar effort is underway at North Downtown on the former Bethel Homes site.
Traffic fatalities remain a challenge. Five people have died on Athens roads in 2025, compared with eight by this point in 2024. To address unsafe intersections, the county created a Vision Zero office with $15 million over three years to redesign roadways and crossings.
Projects include a protected pedestrian crossing on Thomas Street near the Classic Center and a redesign of the Hawthorne and Oglethorpe intersection, one of the county’s most crash-prone.
Girtz tied Athens’ progress to broader state and national debates. Georgia supervises one in 23 adults through probation, parole or incarceration, compared with one in 71 nationwide.
“What’s happening throughout the state, throughout the nation, makes a difference,” Girtz said. “So I would say that the preventative efforts that have been a key part of what we do here in Athens need to be universal to every community in this state and in this country.”
He also criticized federal budget cuts that eliminated some violence-prevention grants, urging Congress to restore funding.
Katie Jarrard is a journalism major in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
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