Albany police chief: Community involvement necessary to reduce violent crime

ALBANY — The city of Albany has experienced 18 homicides in the past 11 months, according to reports from the Albany Police Department), the city of Albany attorney’s office and the Dougherty County District Attorney’s Office.

From March 6, 2016, through Feb. 6, 2017, 14 incidents of violent crime resulted in 18 homicides, including the deaths of three children.

“If people respected the value of life, not just in Albany, but across the country, then we would see nowhere near the number of homicides that we do,” Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said. “We would see nowhere near the amount of violent crimes committed against other people that we do.”

According to Persley, reducing the number of violent crimes, such as homicide, is particularly challenging for law enforcement because most crimes that end in violence are nearly impossible to predict.

“You can’t predict when it (homicide) is going to happen,” Persley said. “For instance, when you look at the case on the Nottingham Apartments where the two guys had an argument and it was about a broken window. That is hard to predict.”

Persley was referring to an incident on April 13, 2016, in which two residents of Nottingham Apartments got into a verbal altercation over a broken window. The argument escalated to the point where the men shot each other. Herbert Garner Mitchell, 56, was pronounced dead at the scene, and 35-year old Bryan Collier died later at the hospital.

Many of the homicide cases in Albany, such as the Nottingham Apartments case, were domestic-type cases Persley said.

More than half of the homicides over the past year were spawned from some type of domestic dispute, according to reports. The remaining cases were either drug- or gang-related.

“Trying to reduce the number of homicides that we have, and we do it through law enforcement means, that’s difficult,” Persley said. “We need the community’s help, always. The biggest message that we can push out there is for people not to handle things by picking up a gun or picking up a knife. How can people handle their disagreements better?”

Out of the 18 homicide deaths, the Albany Police Department either have solved the case or have one or more suspects in custody in 16 of them.

“The reason we solve our homicides is because we talk to people in the community,” Persley said. “Somebody is sitting out there with the answer. We either have to give them the right venue to provide it or we just have to look.

“Any type of community involvement that goes toward decreasing the amount of violent crime that is committed, educating those about the consequences of violent crimes and the type of message from home, community and work can all help.

“The criminal justice system, in order for it not to thrive, means the social justice system has to be in place; that’s family, church and school,” the chief said. “If those three are not broken, the criminal justice system is just here. Look at communities that have strong families, a strong educational system and a strong religious foundation. Then look at a community that doesn’t have that and compare the crime rates.”