Homicide rate drops in Atlanta, but rising assaults and robberies leave police department concerned
The number of homicides has dropped in Atlanta, but the city's police department remains concerned about other crimes that are on the rise.
At a press conference held on Tuesday, Atlanta Police Chief Darren Schierbaum said the city has seen a dramatic decrease in shootings since 2022.
According to data from the department, 2025 was the first year since before the COVID-19 pandemic began that the number of homicides remained under 100. Non-fatal shootings have also dropped 27% in the four-year span.
Still, Schierbaum called on the community to help get those statistics even lower for 2026.
"The No. 1 reason an individual still lost their life in Atlanta, Georgia, was an escalating dispute," Schierbaum said. "So we continue to need the help of individuals across this city - faith-based communities, youth initiatives, civic groups - anyone that can band together to teach conflict resolution."
While the number of people who were shot has continued to drop, aggravated assault cases have risen sharply to more than 3,000 in 2025.
APD Major Crime Department head Maj. Pete Malecki pointed to multiple incidents that he described as "bizarre crimes," including one instance where someone was assaulted with a broom during an argument about cats. Other deadly assault cases happened over fights over water or French fries.
"It seems ridiculous because it is," said Malecki. "But again, that goes back to the conflict resolution, and something that the majority of people wouldn't even think twice about leads to gun violence or physical assaults. Those things are definitely hard to prevent, and they're hard to deter against because it comes down to humanity and just being able to resolve these conflicts peacefully."
The number of robberies was also up. Officials specifically highlighted robberies that happened during sales on Facebook Marketplace or other spots online that do not happen in safe zones. Both sellers and purchasers have been targeted, Schierbaum said.
The police chief said one factor in crime that his department was especially concerned about was repeat offenders, or individuals who have been convicted three or more times of a felony. The department arrested 1,057 repeat offenders in 2025 - a quarter of all of the APD's felony arrests that year.
Of those arrested, Schierbaum said that they were responsible for over 32,000 arrests and more than 6,500 felony convictions between them.
"The courts have been put on notice they were dangerous, the courts have been put on notice that they were a threat to the community, and they were back out to offend again, and we made the arrest," he said. "It is a concern when individuals with egregious criminal histories, individuals that need the assistance of — sometimes it's social services — but sometimes they need to be out of the public, are back out encountering our officers."
The department is hard at work preparing for the FIFA World Cup, working with other agencies to ensure that its officers are ready to keep the crowd safe during the summer.
Currently, the Atlanta Police Department has 1840 officers with 200 recruits in training. The agency is currently conducting a study to determine the optimal number of officers the city needs.
"The department is going to need to be the size of a major American city police department if we're going to host Super Bowls and if we're going to host large-attendance games," Schierbaum said. "You can't be a small police department - especially if you want us to protect that event and keep crime down in the city."