ATLANTA — Violent crime went down in the city of Atlanta last year but property crimes, like car thefts, went up -- but only slightly.
Still, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said those violent crime numbers show they’re getting control of crime.
Phillipe Green, who owns the Mitchell Bros. Hair Stylists barber shop in northwest Atlanta, told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that he can see a difference as far as violent crime. But for him, property crime is still a nagging problem.
“Someone broke our window. They didn’t steal anything. They didn’t get all the way in, but they broke our window and that caused us to get the window repaired,” Green said.
On Thursday, Dickens took the stage at Salem Bible Church to talk about the good news about the 2023 crime stats, particularly the news about violent crimes.
“Atlanta had the third highest drop in crime across the nation,” Dickens said.
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Overall crimes against persons are down 17%, homicides are down 21%, and assaults are down 16%.
Even robberies were down 15%, though it’s officially considered a crime against property, not a person.
Dickens said bringing down those numbers was one of his goals.
“If you pull a gun -- and I said this last year -- you pull a gun in this city and shoot it, you will go to jail,” Dickens said.
But the stats also showed challenges ahead. Overall, crimes against property were up 7%.
Those were fueled in part by a 61% increase in car thefts and a 22% increase in shoplifting.
Still, even with the attempted break-in at his barber shop, Green said it feels like things are safer -- at least in his neighborhood.
“Violent crime has gone down. Other than what I’ve seen on the news, but out here on the streets, I hadn’t really, it’s been going down,” Green said.
Those car thieves are targeting Kias and Hyundais and are using online information to steal them.
The city is working on that problem including giving away free anti-theft devices to those car owners.
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