Toccoa P.D. Releases 2016 Crime Statistics

Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said a look at last year’s crime numbers in the city of Toccoa shows good news.

A look at those numbers shows that while the city had a two percent increase in the number of incidents reported last year, the total number of cases cleared by police increased by 10 percent and the total cleared by arrest was up 23 percent.

In 2016, Toccoa Police cleared 91 percent of all cases and 43 percent of those were cleared by arrest. Those are both the highest figures for the department in the last decade.

Regarding drugs, Toccoa Police reported an 85 percent increase in the number of drug investigations in 2016, but an 87 percent increase in the number of drug arrests.

Jarrell said drugs have been a major focus of the department because that is one of the top issues he hears about from the community.

“As I have said from the beginning, we ask our officers whenever they are called to the scene of a crime or an incident to be able to investigate the core cause of that crime or that incident and in doing so, finding out that a lot of the calls we respond to have been drug-related,” said Jarrell. “Our officers have been more diligent in seeking out those individuals who are selling drugs or are transporting drugs.”

Overall, most major categories of crime were down in 2016 in the city of Toccoa.

Numbers from the police department show that crimes against persons, including things like robbery, assault, and criminal damage, went down 35 percent and burglaries were down 36 percent.

Also, police figures show thefts were down 22 percent, thanks in large part to a 48 percent drop in business thefts.

Jarrell credited that to extra patrols by officers.

One area where crime increased last year in the city was in the number of residential thefts, which jumped 18 percent.

According to Jarrell, the public can help in lowering that figure.

“In 2017, we are going to be constantly reminding residents to make sure that their personal items are not left out,” said Jarrell. “They need to be secured in some manner. A lot of these cases are the result of lawn mowers that have been taken, weed eaters that have been taken, bicycles that have been taken, and other items that are left out.”

Jarrell also encouraged people to make sure their vehicles are locked.

The city did report a jump in the number of miscellaneous incidents reported, including things like forgeries, DUI’s, and license and registration violations.

Overall, Jarrell said he is pleased with the numbers and the work of the police department.

“I think this reflects the commitment, the dedication, and the caring that the officers, the men and women of this department, are giving to the community they serve,” said Jarrell. “I also would like to say that these numbers have increased where needed and decreased where needed based on citizens helping us to be able to do our job. Our clearance rate is as high as it is because citizens are calling us, giving us information, helping us where we need help in investigations. Without that relationship, we would not have the numbers that we have today.”

Meanwhile, Toccoa Police also responded to 325 reported motor vehicle accidents last year.

Jarrell said Big A Road continues to be the main problem area.

“We prepare a monthly crash analysis that gives us the time, the day of the week, and the location that accidents are occurring,” said Jarrell. “Based upon that information that we gather, we put officers in those locations to try to be a deterrent from those contributing factors, which is aggressive driving behavior, following too close, failure to stop for the traffic light, failure to signal, and various other traffic related offenses.”

Overall in 2016, the Toccoa Police Department had 20,206 calls for service, up from 19,553 in 2015.