CHAD WARBINGTON: APD program targets Albany’s repeat offenders

In the church world and volunteer world, there is a common phrase that says 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Maybe even 10% do 90% of the work. Well, in Albany we currently have a major problem in public safety where 99% of our crime is committed by 1% of our population. Actually, even less than 1%, like maybe ½%.

While Albany is regularly labeled as a high-crime city, realize that around 100-plus repeat offenders are in our city repeatedly committing the crimes. Albany police officers are arresting the same 100 individuals as fast as they are bonding out of jail.

In Georgia, a repeat offender (or recidivist) is generally defined as someone convicted of a new felony after having one or more prior felony convictions. Georgia’s repeat offender statute mandates harsher penalties — often the maximum sentence — for individuals with prior records, particularly after a second felony conviction.

In Albany, there are currently 70 repeat offenders that fit the state’s criteria for sentencing under the repeat offender statute. Those 70 are out and have served their time in prison and are under probation for a period of time. One can hope they have learned their lesson and have chosen a new path for life.

Also, being under probation carries some level of accountability and oversight, and one can hope the extra set of eyes tracking them would discourage future criminal acts.

In addition to the 70 repeat offenders, Albany currently has 50 individuals who have been convicted of one felony and have not made it to repeat offender status. So herein lies the problem: These numbers (70 and 50) are only based on a conviction of one or more felonies. What about individuals who are arrested and bonded out multiple times before they ever go to trial for a conviction?

As we know, the courts can be years behind in prosecuting cases and bringing them to trial. So who is monitoring and watching the repeat offenders in this pre-trial stage? The answer … no one … until now.

Albany Police Department Chief Michael Persley brought an initiative to the City Commission back in November in which he formed a team of police officers who started a repeat offender tracking program in the city focused on those individuals who repeatedly get arrested and repeatedly get out on bond.

In the last few months of this program, APD has uncovered some alarming statistics:
— There are 107 individuals who have been arrested for three or more violent crimes and who are out on bond in the city.
— There are 21 individuals who have been arrested for murder and who are out on bond in the city.
— There are 137 individuals who have been arrested for aggravated assault and are out on bond in the city.
— Last year, Albany had 23 murders, the second-highest number on record (24 was the highest in 1988). Of the 23 murders, 20 of those charged with the crimes were repeat offenders out on bond, awaiting a trial.
— Until now, when a repeat offender came to a first-appearance bond hearing, no documentation was provided to the judge to indicate the accused was a repeat offender.

Albany, we have a problem … actually, a serious problem. We have 100 individuals who
are wreaking havoc in our city, repeatedly committing violent crime with little to no
consequences. Law enforcement officers are arresting them, and they may spend one night in jail, maybe pay a $1,000 to $2,000 cash bond, and within three months they are being arrested again, and the cycle continues.

Albany Police can tell story after story of this type of three-month-or-so arrest cycle. In one recent incident, I was told that an individual was arrested with $10,000 or more in cash and drugs and paid $1,000 bond the next day. A thousand-dollar bond is nothing to them. In addition, these repeat offenders are now the primary suspects of violent crimes and homicides.

We are a city of 70,000 citizens, and we are letting 100 repeat offenders define our city and erode our public safety. I say this insanity has to stop, and we need to demand that it stop.

Here are just a few items the APD repeat offender program is pushing:

— At first-appearance bond hearings at the jail, police are providing information on repeat offenders to the judge. These hearings are held every day, seven days a week, at the jail. The judge needs to know if the person in front of them has been arrested repeatedly in the past. It’s the judge’s decision, but APD is providing detailed information that previously has not been provided to the judge.
– – Police are sending the message to repeat criminals: When they get out on bond, APD is tracking and monitoring them. The names of the 100-plus repeat offenders will be well-known and common names to Albany law enforcement.
— Resources are available to repeat offenders to end their life of crime. Ministries like Sherwood’s Hope Center on Pine Ave have established and proven re-entry programs and skills training for individuals who decide they want to change. Sherwood even has employers ready and willing to hire individuals immediately after going through their programs at the Hope Center.

Albany Police and other law enforcement agencies can direct these repeat offenders to programs that can help them find a different lifestyle versus prison time, or worse, death via homicide.

Hats off to Chief Persely and his repeat-offender tracking team. I think they are onto something, and I hope this new initiative can make some positive changes in our public safety. Albany Police officers work seven days a week, nights and weekends, to keep our community safe because crime does not just happen Monday through Friday on day shift.