After working a record number of homicides in 2019, DeKalb County police have seen a significant drop in slayings through the first half of 2020.

The 37% decline bucks the county’s own recent trends while also running counter to what many major American cities — including neighboring Atlanta — have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent periods of civil unrest.

And while DeKalb officials are hardly declaring victory, they believe that new leadership and other initiatives launched over the last few years are starting to bear fruit.

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Cox Media Group