COBB COUNTY, Ga. — From carjackings and terroristic threats to rapes and shootings, Major James Bullock of the Cobb County Police Department said crime numbers are up.
"Violent crime is up across the country and we are not immune to that in Cobb County," said Bullock.
That includes Vinings, where over the last seven months, a teacher was killed in a carjacking, two people were shot by Paces Walk, and a man was killed outside a hotel.
"Our overall increase is about 30 percent and that’s really the number for the department - about a 30 percent increase in the department of violent crime of 2020 over 2019," said Bullock.
Bullock said an increase in population combined with the pandemic led to the rise in crime. He said many of the violent crimes had some things in common.
"For most of them, there is some relation to the victim so it’s not stranger-on-stranger crime," said Bullock.
And when 2020 ended, the rise in crime did not.
We looked at the numbers: in January of 2020 right before the pandemic, there were 82 violent crimes in Cobb County. In January of 2021, there were 163 - almost a 100 percent increase.
But Bullock said even with the increase, their overall crime numbers are still low and he believes that once the pandemic has passed, they should return to normal.
"Vinings is still a very safe place, Cobb County, overall, is still a very, very safe place," said Bullock.
Bullock said, to help curb the crime, they're using technology -- posting videos on social media to let the community know about crime prevention and also to engage with the at-risk youth they've not been able to connect with in-person since the pandemic began.