ATLANTA — A former Atlanta mayor said there is more violent crime this year than there was in 2017. That happens to be the final year Kasim Reed was in office.
Reed is seeking another term when the votes are counted a week from Tuesday.
In a fundraising email on behalf of mayoral candidate Andre Dickens, former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin is quoted as saying, "Violent crime was higher during (Kasim Reed’s) last year as mayor than it is right now.”
Crime has been the top issue among voters, according to two 11Alive News polls. It’s an issue because murders and aggravated assaults have spiked, especially over the last two years.
But was it higher during Reed’s last year as mayor than it is now under Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms?
Here’s what we found.
APD data shows there were 1,150 robberies in 2017, 635 in 2021. That's almost twice as many robberies during Reed’s last year. Robberies are considered violent crimes.
APD also reported 201 rapes in 2017, compared to 139 in 2021; that's a 31% decrease.
But the same data shows there have been 300 more aggravated assaults reported this year at 2,005, compared to 1,701 Reed’s final year.
And 2021 has seen 129 murders, nearly twice as many as there were in 2017, in which 66 were reported.
During an appearance with supporters, Reed mocked the suggestion that violent crime was higher during his final year as mayor than it is now.
"These games that people are playing with statistics – around murder?" Reed asked. "'Our data is better if you take our murder and violence."
If you add the total number of violent crimes in those four categories together, the data shows a 7% decrease in the first 42 weeks of 2021, compared to the same period during Reed's final year in 2017.
The problem with comparing crime data like this is that it assumes that a robbery is statistically equal to a murder.
Andre Dickens’ campaign said, at the very least, it's debatable to assume that violent crime was lower under Reed’s administration than it is now.