While Savannah-Chatham police have had their hands full tackling crime and dealing with critics who say it’s out of control, west Chatham County experienced a mix in crime trends in 2012.
Pooler, one of Georgia’s fastest growing cities, saw overall FBI classified Part I crimes increase in 2012. In smaller Garden City, where the population has been on the decline, crime fell last year, while crime also dropped in growing Port Wentworth.
Still, all those cities point to community policing for keeping crime manageable.
Checking rising crime in Pooler
Part I crimes include homicide, rape, property crime, aggravated assault and robbery.
In Pooler, those crimes increased by 5 percent, from 531 in 2011 to 556 in 2012. In 2012, there were 31,932 calls for service compared to 28,846 in 2011, according to city data.
“Obviously growth would be a large factor,” police Chief Mark Revenew explained.
“Also, I think the minor deviations is attributable to the cyclical nature of crime and the numerous dependent variables. We had decreases from 2010-11 and anticipate some minor fluctuations. However, myself and our senior staff review every incident daily to better combat these crimes and protect our city.”
Chatham County’s second largest city isn’t known for murders but it has experienced a homicide in at least each of the past two years.
On Feb. 24, 2012, forklift operator Nickifor Zephyrine, 28, of Savannah was fatally shot in the head at a Pooler warehouse by a co-worker, according to police. Christopher Jesse Lema of Savannah was charged with homicide.
“Every municipality experiences sporadic violent crimes that almost always involve people from outside our jurisdiction perpetrating these crimes within our city,” said Revenew.
“Unfortunately, there is little a police department can do to prevent these isolated incidents. All we can do is thoroughly investigate them and ensure the offenders are brought before the appropriate judicial systems.”
The city did experience a noticeable drop in reported motor vehicle thefts over the past year, from 37 to 23 in 2012.
Revenew said new state laws which increased accountability and reporting by scrap metal yards have made stealing by traveling theft rings and others looking for scrap metal, which Pooler has experienced, less likely.
Burglaries though increased by 39 percent, or 31 incidents, in 2012, totalling 111.
However, Revenew noted that Georgia recently reclassified burglary, which previously was a crime against or involving a dwelling. Now, unlawfully entering another person’s vehicle — which was classified as “entering an auto” — is classified as second degree burglary.
Policing in Garden City
Garden City police Capt. Donald Chapman Jr. also cited reclassification in explaining the 47 percent increase in burglaries in his city, from 110 in 2011 to 162 in 2012.
“Additionally, we did have one suspect who was arrested for a burglary during 2012,” he said. “Once that suspect was in custody we saw a substantial decrease in burglaries.”
Garden City experienced a big drop in larceny cases in the past year.
In 2011, there were 303 larcenies, which fell to 219 in 2012. Chapman attributed the drop to an emphasis on community oriented policing, which he said includes instilling an appropriate culture, daily methods of operation and the deployment of a COP specialist in the community.
The department has a total of 41 full-time officers who are trained to proactively identify suspicious activity and familiarize themselves with who lives and works in the community, Chapman said.
“That’s how we do business,” said Chapman. “Interaction with the community and getting out of the cars and out on foot is a staple of our daily operations. We believe being proactive, COP-based and highly visible makes us successful in keeping crime down as much as possible with the resources we have.”
The approach to law enforcement seems to be working as Part I crimes decreased by 7 percent over the past year from 581 to 541 in 2012. There was no homicide in 2012. Garden City received 23,330 calls for service in 2012, down from 27,099 calls the year before.
“Although there was a small population decrease we find that has no bearing on our crime statistics,” Chapman said. “Garden City has a very large ‘day-time population,’ which does receive police services when needed.”
Fewer Port Wentworth officers and crimes
The cities of Pooler and Port Wentworth are where much of the county’s population growth has occurred in recent years.
Port Wentworth Public Safety Director Matt Libby, who took over the police department in 2011, said he has been “very pleased” with the department’s performance, despite being down two officers for six months and four officers at one point last year. There are 21 officers on the police force.
Part I crimes in the city dropped 17 percent over the past year from 153 to 127 in 2012. There was one homicide and a decline in reported burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft cases, which Libby credited to proactive policing and public cooperation in solving cases.
“We stress to our officers that we want them in all of these neighborhoods repeatedly throughout the day,” he said.
Still, the small city is not without its own unique set of problems, which Libby identified as rising incidents of domestic violence and gun violence. There were 27,054 calls for service last year in Port Wentworth.
“Domestics are hard for us to quantify because there are a lot that aren’t reported,” he said.
“We had more gun violence — not a ton, we’re not Savannah — but we’ve had more gun violence the last couple of years than I ever remember. I just think that’s society in general. You have bad people out there trying to get guns.”
Lessons for Savannah
Earlier this year, Savannah-Chatham police reported a 12.1 percent decrease in Part I crime, highlighted by a 13.1 percent decline in property crime. Those statistics, however, have come under questioning and have led to an FBI audit of the complaints regarding their accuracy.
As Savannah-Chatham police deal with concerns about violent crime in Savannah, west Chatham law enforcement officials were hesitant to offer sideline advice to their brethren in blue.
Revenew described Savannah-Chatham precincts as “mini-cities in themselves with each one having their own problems.” Chapman praised Chief Willie Lovett and his officers, and said the department has a “great reputation amongst other law enforcement agencies in the area.”
On the other hand, Libby, who recently returned from training in Texas, said taking a proactive strategy in crime fighting and having officers seen daily in neighborhoods and even in schools has proven to be widely successful.
“Just letting people know we’re serving them and work for them,” he said. “We need them to work with us so we can make a safer community.”
West Chatham Crime Numbers
Pooler, population 19,640
Homicide: 1
Forcible rape: 4
Robbery: 11
Aggravated assault: 8
Burglary: 111
Larceny-theft: 396
Motor vehicle theft: 23
Arson: 2
Garden City, population 9,001
Homicide: 0
Forcible rape: 4
Robbery: 18
Aggravated assault: 96
Burglary: 162
Larceny-theft: 219
Motor vehicle theft: 39
Arson: 3
Port Wentworth, population 5,492
Homicide: 0
Forcible rape: 1
Robbery: 4
Aggravated assault: 9
Burglary: 26
Larceny-theft: 78
Motor vehicle theft: 8
Arson: 1
Source: Police departments and 2011 U.S. Census estimates