Crime is down around Atlanta, according to Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum. The Chief, along with other members of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID), sat down with local media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss crime numbers.
“Today we are going to go over some successes we have had, and the community has been a key part of that,” Schierbaum said.
The combination press conference and Q&A session was labeled as a conversation, and an opportunity for Schierbaum and others to get the crime data out to the public.
“This is basically, like a sit-down, Atlanta Police Department Public Affairs United Executive Director Chata M. Spikes explained to several members of the media prior to the start of the conversation/press conference.
Schierbaum reported an overall 11% reduction in crime in Atlanta as of May 3. To be more specific, crimes such as homicide, robbery, and auto theft were highlighted as successful crime-fighting efforts by the Atlanta Police Department in the year-to-date 2025.
Homicides are down 35%, aggravated assaults are down 27%, and auto theft is down. There have been 30 homicides in Atlanta this year, with the majority occurring due to what is called “escalating disputes.” Only two of those homicides are a result of domestic disputes.
“That is 30 too many,” Schierbaum said in regard to the homicides. The answer to that is not a police answer. The answer to that is a community answer. We don’t have the ability to be there every time.”
A deeper look into the homicide numbers tells a story of who is committing the crimes in Atlanta. The people being arrested for homicides are between the ages of 17 and 24 on average, according to the latest data.
“These reductions are being seen in key areas,” Schierbaum said.
Some of those other key areas are gangs and guns, where 1,042 were recovered this year.
“We are going to continue to remove them legally,” Schierbaum said about the guns, many of which are recovered during arrests.
Robbery and motor vehicle theft are down as well. A recent trend of auto theft in the parking lots at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport forced Atlanta Police Department officials to add more patrols, under cover and in marked vehicles, says Atlanta Police Department Lt. Rodney Jones with the auto theft unit. Jones reported there were several other federal and local agencies, including the FBI, HSI, Cobb County, DeKalb County, Clayton County, and Gwinnett County police departments, chipping in.
“Due to the good work of our guys and those other agencies, we were able to make arrests of key individuals,” Jones said.
Schierbaum said car break-ins have always been a “pressing crime in our city.”
During the presentation/conversation, mug shots of arrested and wanted criminals were displayed on a screen. These men were used as examples of high-level and recurring criminals breaking the law in Atlanta.
It wasn’t all good news, though. There has been a slight uptick in rape and property crimes, accorinding to the data presented on Tuesday. Schierbaum said the surrounding communities will be a huge factor in bringing those numbers down. Property crime is up 67%.
Another improvement in numbers comes from the E911 Communications department, where 911 call answer times are down by a significant margin compared to 2023 and 2024. In 2023, 911 calls were answered at an average time of 24 seconds, while in 2024, the calls were answered in 12 seconds. The 2025 numbers through the first four months of 2025 are averaging just under 10 seconds.
“It’s everyone doing their part. It’s a community answer,” Schierbaum said. “When we see trends developing, we commit more resources.”
