Visions 2015 Rockdale News Special Section | Page 19

the most patrolling.
Also, the RCSO has gotten better at doing the basics. Freeman
said that the deputies have gotten with good at identifying prolific
offender, processing evidence quickly and setting up perimeters to
catch suspects who flee scenes.
“It’s a combination of investigation, allocation of resources,” he
said. “Our patrol deputies are out here working the streets.”
Another big reason for the crime reduction has been the citizens, said Freeman.
“We can’t take all the credit for that. We have to give the citizens
credit as well,” he said. “They have been instrumental in reporting
crimes when it’s happening, usual or suspicious behavior. That
said they have a lot of confidence in us to do the job.”
CPD Chief Wilson praised the good work of officers and
detectives in a department that has been understaffed since
October 2013.
“I can’t say enough for the work the officers and detectives have
done. They have done just an excellent job. You never can put a
number on what you prevented – you just don’t know. But the
crimes that have been reported, they’ve been so good at making
traffic stops based on something they saw on the bulletin.”
Wilson cited giving supervising officers the flexibility to create
mini-task forces to address situations they see, such as a rash of
car break-ins at hotels.
That constant flow of information such as lookout notices sent
by agencies to one another, enabled by advances in technology
and electronic communication, has been key to catching suspects.
Lucas said, “I think it’s at the best point now it’s been since
I’ve been involved. We’ve established great relationships with the
RCSO, city of Covington, Newton County; DeKalb…. We’re a
member of so many different organizations, if I need to talk to
someone in Columbus, I can put a face to a name. The flow of
information has been really great. We’ve had so many cases span
over jurisdictions.”
The latest developments in policing have been the discussions
of body cameras and agencies being warned by the FBI to prepare for active shooter situations, said Wilson – both of which
are expensive for local agencies to prepare for. He is waiting to
see what the result will be of this year’s General Assembly session
regarding body camera use.
The only two crime figures to go up in Rockdale County from
2013 were murder and rape incidents reported. There were three
murder cases in 2014 - one more than 2013 - and there were 12
rape cases in 2014, five more than 2013.
“We’re not isolated. We’re not in a bubble, unfortunately,” said
Freeman.
Are the numbers real?
There are some people who think the RCSO may be underreporting the number of crimes. RCSO Chief Deputy Scott
Freeman said that this just isn’t true.
“I can assure you we are not cooking the books when it comes
to (Uniform Crime Reporting),” he said. “We take great strides to
make sure that’s done correctly.”
All crimes entered in to system go through an audit process
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state law enforcement officials.

“We have to give the citizens
credit as well,” he said. “They
have been instrumental in
reporting crimes when it’s
happening, usual or suspicious
behavior. That said they have a
lot of confidence in us to do the
job.”

— scott freeman
RCSO Chief Deputy

Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson said if anything, the Conyers Police Department adheres to the stricter UCR standards
than the state standards. “We’re audited by the (Georgia Crime
Information Center). Of all the things they audited last year, they
found one thing that they didn’t like,” said Wilson.
“When the feds or state does an audit of how we are classifying our crimes we always pass,” Freeman said, for the RCSO.
“There is oversight into how we report those crimes. There’s a
checks and balance system there.” RN

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