BROOKHAVEN, GA — The city of Brookhaven is reporting a major drop in crime, with new statistics showing improvements across the board.
Brookhaven Police Chief Brandon Gurley told city council members during their meeting Tuesday that crime is down significantly over the past year, including sharp declines in violent offenses.
“Our violent crime index category showed that violent crime is down across all categories,” Gurley said.
According to the chief, homicides in Brookhaven are down 50%, with double-digit decreases in other violent crimes as well. Gurley cited reductions of nearly 30% in rape cases, about 30% in robberies, and almost 12% in aggravated assaults.
Property crimes are also trending downward. Gurley said the department is seeing significant drops in burglaries and auto thefts, noting that theft remains the department’s highest-volume category, even as those numbers decline.
“Our highest volume category is theft, but even there we see decreases among our theft categories,” Gurley said.
The chief credited several factors for the improvements, including strong interdepartmental coordination, investment in public safety, and community involvement.
“You’ve heard me say time and time again that in Brookhaven we do not police the community, we police with the community,” Gurley said.
Gurley also thanked city leaders for their support, pointing to investments in technology and personnel as key contributors to the progress.
“Your partnership, your investment in our technology and our personnel, and our public safety initiatives is what makes success possible,” he said.
Among the city’s recent investments is a new real-time operations center, which the city council approved funding for last month. Once operational, the center will allow teams currently spread across different offices to work side by side while using the city’s camera network and drone operations to coordinate police efforts.
Brookhaven’s decline in crime mirrors a broader statewide trend. Recent FBI data shows violent crime in Georgia dropped by more than 10% in 2024 compared to the year prior; well above the national average decline of about 4.5%.
Gurley described the current report as a summary of a more detailed analysis to come, which will include deeper looks at crime trends, response times, and the return on investment for public safety initiatives.
Brookhaven officials say the city’s improvements are outpacing statewide trends, which themselves exceed national averages.