There’s Hope for Reducing Crime in Georgia

There’s Hope for Reducing Crime in Georgia

community people

There’s Hope for Reducing Crime in Georgia

Key Points

  • Addressing gang violence is an important way to bring down Georgia’s crime rate
  • Improving public safety and reducing crime in Georgia are key to growing economic opportunity 

  • Governor Kemp should add re-entry programs to his crime-solving agenda
By Josh Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives

 

When Governor Kemp delivered his state of the State address on Wednesday, January 25, he tackled head-on one of the worries that’s become top-of-mind for everyone in Georgia: public safety and gang violence. Governor Kemp led by saying “[w]e will also continue to take violent offenders out of our communities. For far too many Georgians, the safety of their families and homes is put at risk by the unchecked crimes of street gangs.” Kemp’s comments come on the heels of Atlanta experiencing its third straight year of increased homicide in 2023.

The protection of public safety is the most essential function of government and safe communities are preconditions for economic opportunity and prosperity. While crime control is predominately the responsibility of local government, state government has an important role to play, as well. 

 

Addressing gang violence is an important way to bring down Georgia’s crime rate

Governor Kemp is right to focus on gangs. Studies routinely find that gang members offend at rates much higher than non-gang affiliated at-risk youth and the general public. Typically, less than one percent of a city’s population belong to gangs or street groups (less formal and hierarchical gangs), but those individuals are responsible for more than 50 percent of a city’s homicides. 

It would also be wrong to think of gangs as just an Atlanta problem. In July 2021, Governor Kemp announced the largest gang bust in Georgia history, which occurred in Augusta-Richmond County. It included indictments of 77 members of the mostly-white Ghost Face Gangsters for a range of crimes, including attempted murder, drug trafficking, and assaults on police officers.

One of the specific proposals the Governor mentioned was increasing the penalties for recruiting a child into a gang. This is particularly relevant as the country deals with a nationwide increase in juvenile violence. But in testimony last year by Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia, which he gave before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Garcia explained that the juveniles involved in serious violence are often pressured by adults who sometimes literally put the gun in their hand.

So, to be successful, efforts to reduce juvenile crime must also focus on the adults who perpetuate the cycle and recruit these children into gangs. In Kentucky, for example, after a 2018 comprehensive anti-gang law passed, recruitment of a juvenile into a gang by an adult became a Class C felony (5-10 years in prison) for the first offense and a Class B felony (10-20 years in prison) for a second or subsequent offense. 

Together, we can get Georgia back on track.

Together, we can get Georgia back on track.

Improving public safety and reducing crime in Georgia are key to growing economic opportunity 

Reducing violent crime will not only save lives, but restoring public order will improve economic opportunity and mobility in our poorest communities. Increases in violent crime reduce economic mobility and hamper private sector job growth. One study found that changes in the rates of violent crime substantially impacted the economic mobility of children raised in low-income families. As crime went up during childhood and adolescence, their level of economic mobility went down. 

Another study found that increases in violent crime cause existing businesses to downsize and discourage new businesses from entering the marketplace. When businesses avoid or flee communities because of crime, residents in those areas lose opportunities for jobs and income, and they have fewer options to affordably access goods and services needed for basic well-being. So, reducing crime is crucial to long term prosperity for both individuals and communities. 

 

Governor Kemp should add re-entry programs to his crime-solving agenda 

Not included in the Governor’s speech but worth the legislature’s consideration are efforts to reduce recidivism through re-entry programming. Ninety-five percent of inmates will re-enter civil society at some point, and we desperately need them to come back better. As of 2019—the last year of available data—23.7 percent of inmates will be re-convicted of a felony within three years of release. That’s down from a high of 28.4 percent in 2016, but still far too high. Reducing recidivism means less crime and fewer victims, and while successful re-entry programs are rare, there are some that work very well. As Georgia looks to become a leader in public safety and crime reduction, one of our biggest opportunities lies in how we support re-entry. 

The rate of violence Georgians are currently experiencing is unacceptable, but the solutions are abundant and hopeful. Key to our success is reliance on what we know works and partnerships between state and local government, as well as the community. Together, we can get Georgia back on track.



 

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

In The News

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

Millions of American children do not receive a quality education that sets them up for success. A good education leads to opportunity, but unfortunately, it’s out of reach for so many.

All Americans, regardless of political leanings, believe their children deserve an education that prepares them for college, a career, and life. How can we reach that goal? One way is through school choice policies, or state laws that give parents more choice when it comes to educating their children.

uzz Brockway, executive vice president of public policy for GCO, said “This legislative session, Georgia lawmakers must build on the progress we’ve made in recent years by approving Education Scholarship Accounts to ensure educational access for all.”

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

Proposed bill would increase Georgia’s tax credit scholarship program cap

In The News

Proposed bill would increase Georgia’s tax credit scholarship program cap

Proposed legislation would increase the cap on the state’s tax credit scholarship program a year after lawmakers raised it

The proposed measure, House Bill 54, would increase the cap from $120 million annually to $200 million per year starting in 2024. The state’s tax credit scholarship program, enacted in 2008, allows individuals and corporations to use part of their state tax obligation for private school scholarships.

.

“This expansion would bring educational opportunities to thousands more students in Georgia,” Buzz Brockway, vice president of public policy for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said in a statement.

 

“It’s clear that demand for the program is strong. The existing $120 million cap was met on the very first day of applications this year,” Brockway added. “Georgia families are demanding more options, and lawmakers would be wise to take notice.”

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

Kentucky’s Juvenile Justice System

In The News

Kentucky’s Juvenile Justice System

Renee Shaw and guests discuss Kentucky’s juvenile justice system. Guests: State Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R-Fruit Hill); State Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Louisville); State Rep. Nima Kulkarni (D-Louisville); State Rep. Keturah Herron (D-Louisville); Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates; and Josh Crawford, director of Criminal Justice Initiatives, Georgia Center for Opportunity.

School choice in 2023: 10 states to watch

‘A Violent Start To The Year’: Murders Are Already Soaring In These Six Major Cities

In The News

‘A Violent Start To The Year’: Murders Are Already Soaring In These Six Major Cities

Spates of deadly violence impacted several U.S. cities to start 2023, outpacing the same period in 2022, and experts variously called for proper police funding, community trust-building efforts and investment in at-risk youth in response.

“We’re less than a month into 2023, so it’s tough to say what a violent start to the year in so many cities will mean,” Speaking to the crime increases in these cities, Georgia Center for Opportunity Criminal Justice Initiatives Director Josh Crawford told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “But we’re now into our 8th year of an upward trajectory in terms of homicide and violent crime.”

preload imagepreload image