Duluth Police Credit Proactive Patrols as Crime Falls Sharply

What does it take to drive burglaries down 56% in a single year? In Duluth, Georgia, the answer is old-fashioned policing paired with new technology — and a city that refused to defund its officers.

The Duluth Police Department reported a significant decrease in crime from January through October 2024 compared with the same period in 2023, according to Southwest Gwinnett Magazine. Burglaries fell 56%, robberies dropped 57%, and stolen vehicles declined 52%.

What changed?

Chief Jacquelyn Carruth credits three things: well-trained officers, a new Public Safety Ambassadors Program, and the city's Real-Time Crime Center.

The ambassadors program, launched earlier in 2024, puts trained personnel on non-emergency calls that once required a sworn officer. That keeps patrol officers on the street longer and frees them to address problems before they escalate.

The Real-Time Crime Center added cameras throughout the city, giving detectives real-time intelligence and helping deter crimes before they happen.

The community piece

Carruth framed the results as a team effort.

"This reduction in crime is a credit to the outstanding work being done by our police officers and public safety ambassadors, our innovative use of technology and to the strong partnerships we have created within the community," she said. "Keeping Duluth safe is a team effort."

The department has also leaned into community engagement — officers who actively listen to residents, the kind of relationship-building that gets harder to do in cities that cut police budgets.

A different playbook

While some cities spent years debating how to shrink their police departments, Duluth invested in its own. The result is a city of roughly 32,000 where officers stay on patrol, technology supports — rather than replaces — judgment, and criminals get the message that they are not welcome.

That approach is worth watching. When a department trains its officers well, keeps them on the street, and gives them tools that sharpen rather than substitute for human judgment, crime goes down. Duluth is the latest proof.

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