Chatham police note April rise in domestic violence, while other crimes dropped

While Georgia's statewide shelter-in-place order mandated residents to stay home through most of April to prevent spreading the coronavirus, the Chatham County Police Department recorded an uptick in domestic-violence calls -- and at the same time, reports of other violent crimes and property crimes dropped.

However, as businesses and public offices slowly reopen across Georgia in May, the county's frequency of domestic-violence reports is returning to its normal range, while violent- and property-crime rates are rising, according to a report that CCPD Chief Jeff Hadley is presenting to the Chatham County Commission during their Friday, May 22, meeting.

The Chatham police presentation details crime statistics from the county's unincorporated areas from early March through mid-May and is included on pages 29-48 in the county commission's agenda packet for their Friday meeting.

According to the presentation, Chatham police received an average of 3.4 domestic-violence calls daily in 2019. Using this as a basis, Hadley's statistics indicate that the county experienced a "small, short-term rise" of such incidents during April 5-23, as Chatham police fielded 78 domestic-violence calls for an average of 4.2 calls daily.

Upticks in Chatham's domestic-violence reports during the past two months were not restricted to mid-April, according to the presentation. Nine incidents were reported on March 16 alone, while eight domestic-violence calls were received on both March 8 and 29.

"There were 12 locations that we went to more than once" while responding to the increase of domestic-violence reports during this time, Hadley said on Thursday, May 21, adding that police nationwide were anticipating this rise amid shelter-in place orders. "That was part of the national conversation in law enforcement."

Although the presentation notes that domestic-violence reports have declined since April 23, six incidents were reported on both May 3 and 5, according to the CCPD.

Meanwhile, Chatham police are reporting a drop in Part 1 violent- and property-crime rates during mid-April, when most county residents were ordered to stay home. While the CCPD's average weekly number of reports for these offenses was 30.3 for property crimes and 3.5 for violent crimes in 2019, during April 15-21 only 12 property crimes and one violent crime were called in.

Hadley attributes this decrease to the lack of criminal opportunities available while most residents were staying home for extended periods of time.

"Thefts from vehicles and burglaries are naturally going to go down," Hadley said.

According to the presentation, Part 1 crime reports steadily increased from late April to early May, but these numbers still remain below average when compared to last year.

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