Is Duluth, Georgia Safe? What the Crime Data Actually Shows

People searching "Is Duluth GA safe?" deserve an answer based on official data, not crime-rating websites with opaque methodologies. This investigation examines crime statistics reported by the Duluth Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) data, city budget documents, police staffing records, and calls-for-service data to determine whether Duluth is becoming safer or less safe.

The Jurisdiction Problem: Duluth PD vs. Gwinnett County Police

Before looking at any crime data, you must understand a critical distinction:

The City of Duluth Police Department serves only the area inside Duluth city limits — approximately 32,350 residents as of 2023. The department is headquartered at 3276 Buford Highway and is led by Chief Jacquelyn Carruth.

Gwinnett County Police Department serves unincorporated areas of Gwinnett County, including many addresses that use "Duluth" as their mailing city. The county police department has 936 sworn officers and 322 professional staff, serving a population approaching one million.

A location with a "Duluth, GA 30096" mailing address may be outside Duluth city limits and served by Gwinnett County Police, not Duluth PD. Mixing Gwinnett County crime statistics with Duluth city statistics produces misleading results. This investigation uses only City of Duluth data unless explicitly noted.

Population Growth

Duluth's population has grown steadily over the past decade:

Year	Population	Source
2010	26,600	U.S. Census
2020	31,873	U.S. Census
2021	31,864	Census estimate
2022	32,052	Census estimate
2023	32,350	Census estimate / City of Duluth

Duluth grew approximately 20% from 2010 to 2020, then slowed to roughly 1.5% growth from 2020 to 2023. For context on what this growth means for who pays for Duluth's development, see our separate investigation.

Crime Trends: What Duluth PD Has Reported

The Duluth Police Department does not publish an annual crime statistics report on its website. The department's records page directs residents to third-party sites (SpotCrime, MyLocalCrime) for crime data. However, in November 2024, the department publicly reported significant crime reductions through local media.

January–October 2024 vs. January–October 2023:

Crime Category	Change
Burglary	-56%
Robbery	-57%
Vehicle Theft	-52%

These figures, reported by WSB-TV and Southwest Gwinnett Magazine, represent the most recent official crime data released by Duluth PD. Chief Carruth attributed the reductions to three initiatives:

1. High-quality policing and community engagement
2. Public Safety Ambassadors Program (launched early 2024)
3. Real-Time Crime Center (opened March 2024)

Why These Numbers Matter

A 56% reduction in burglary and 57% reduction in robbery are substantial decreases by any measure. They exceed national trends: the FBI reported that from May 2025 to April 2026, burglary fell 12.3% and robbery fell 9.3% nationally. Duluth's reported reductions were roughly four to six times the national rate of decline.

However, Duluth PD released percentage changes, not absolute crime totals. Without knowing how many burglaries, robberies, or vehicle thefts occurred in the base year (2023), it is impossible to calculate the actual number of incidents or the crime rate per capita. This is a transparency gap. Residents deserve to know not just that crime fell by a percentage, but how many crimes occurred in total.

Calls for Service: A Different Measure

While Duluth PD has not published multi-year crime totals, the department's Instagram account (@duluthgapolice) reports monthly calls-for-service data:

Month	Calls for Service	Year-over-Year Change
December 2025	7,119	+30% vs. December 2024
March 2025	7,176	+2.5% vs. March 2024

These numbers show that while reported major crimes decreased, total police workload increased. Calls for service include 911 calls, traffic stops, alarm responses, welfare checks, and non-criminal incidents — a broader measure of police activity than Part I crime statistics.

The 30% increase in December 2025 calls (compared to December 2024) is a significant workload increase. If this trend holds across other months, Duluth officers are handling substantially more calls even as major crime categories decline.

Violent Crime in Duluth

Duluth PD reported that robbery fell 57% in the first ten months of 2024. Robbery — the taking of property from a person by force or threat of force — is one of the four violent crime categories tracked by the FBI (alongside murder, rape, and aggravated assault).

Duluth PD has not publicly released figures for murder, rape, or aggravated assault for the same period. In a city of approximately 32,000 residents, the raw number of homicides in any given year is typically very small — often zero or one — which makes percentage-based comparisons statistically unreliable.

For context, Georgia's statewide violent crime rate in 2021 (the most recent GBI summary report available) was 315.5 per 100,000 residents — up from 251.3 per 100,000 in 2019. However, Gwinnett County's 2021 rate was reported as 3.39 per 1,000 (339 per 100,000), which may reflect reporting changes during the NIBRS transition rather than an actual crime decrease.

Property Crime in Duluth

Property crime — burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft — accounts for the vast majority of reported crime in most jurisdictions. Duluth PD reported significant decreases in two of the three major property crime categories:

Burglary: -56% (January–October 2024 vs. 2023)

Burglary — unlawful entry into a building to commit a felony or theft — has been declining nationally for years. The FBI reported a 12.3% national decrease in the most recent 12-month period. Duluth's 56% reduction far exceeds the national trend.

Motor Vehicle Theft: -52% (January–October 2024 vs. 2023)

Vehicle theft had been rising nationally in 2020-2023 before declining 21.6% in the most recent national reporting period. Duluth's 52% reduction again far exceeds national trends.

Larceny-theft (including shoplifting) figures were not specifically reported by Duluth PD in the November 2024 release.

Is Auto Theft a Growing Problem in Duluth?

No — the data shows the opposite. Duluth PD reported a 52% decrease in vehicle thefts in the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This is particularly notable because vehicle theft had been increasing nationally through 2023.

The distinction between "stolen vehicles" (motor vehicle theft) and "theft from vehicles" (entering auto/larceny from a motor vehicle) matters. Duluth PD's reported figure covers stolen vehicles specifically. Entering auto — a common property crime in suburban areas — was not separately reported.

Police Staffing: Is It Keeping Up With Growth?

The Duluth Police Department's Uniform Patrol Division consists of 44 sworn officers, including two K-9 officers and members assigned to the Special Operations Unit, according to the department's website. Officers work 12-hour shifts under a four-shift schedule, providing 24/7 coverage.

The patrol division is the largest component of the department, but the total number of sworn officers — including investigators, command staff, and administrative personnel — is not publicly disclosed in the records available for this investigation. The department's recruiting website (joinduluthpd.com) lists a starting salary of $64,755 based on a 42-hour schedule.

For comparison, the FBI reported a national average of 2.4 sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants in 2019. If Duluth's total sworn complement is approximately 60-70 officers (a reasonable estimate given 44 in patrol alone), that would yield roughly 1.9-2.2 officers per 1,000 residents — slightly below the national average but within the typical range for suburban departments.

Duluth's population grew 20% from 2010 to 2020. Whether police staffing grew proportionally over the same period cannot be determined from available public records. The city's FY2023 budget included a 10% pay increase for sworn officers, indicating an effort to remain competitive in recruitment and retention.

Police Budget

According to Duluth's FY2023 budget document, police services represent the city's largest expenditure category:

Metric	FY2023 Value
Police budget	~$11,193,024
Percentage of city budget	~41%
Sworn officer pay increase	10%

At approximately $11.2 million, the police budget represents roughly 41% of the city's total budgeted expenditures. This translates to approximately $346 per resident in police spending — though this figure should be understood as a broad per-capita comparison, not an individual tax contribution.

Multi-year budget trend data for the police department specifically was not available in the records accessible for this investigation. The city's total budget grew from approximately $27 million in earlier years, but the police-specific trend could not be independently verified.

Police Technology Investment

The most significant recent investment in Duluth public safety is the Real-Time Crime Center, which opened in March 2024. The center features:

• Over 400 cameras positioned across the city
• License plate readers that identify vehicles with outstanding warrants or reported stolen
• Real-time officer location tracking — operators can see where every patrol officer is located
• Video transmission to officers — when dispatched to a call, officers can receive live video of the scene before arriving
• 30-day video archive for investigative purposes

Chief Carruth described the center as a source of pride: "We've been getting tours non-stop ever since we did the upgrades. People from all over are coming to try and mimic what we've done."

The department also launched a Public Safety Ambassadors Program in early 2024, employing two civilian ambassadors who handle non-confrontational calls — fraud reports, broken-down vehicles, traffic direction. The program, modeled after Marietta PD's initiative, handles up to 20% of calls that previously required a sworn officer, freeing patrol officers for higher-priority work.

Response Times

No reliable public response-time data was found for the Duluth Police Department in the records reviewed. The department does not publish emergency or priority call response times on its website or in available budget documents. This is a data gap that limits the ability to assess whether police service quality has kept pace with population growth.

Calls for Service vs. Crime

The calls-for-service data from Duluth PD's Instagram reveals an important dynamic: police workload is increasing even as major crime decreases. December 2025 saw 7,119 calls for service — a 30% increase from December 2024. March saw 7,176 calls, up 2.5% year-over-year.

This means officers are handling more calls (traffic incidents, suspicious activity reports, domestic disputes, welfare checks, alarm responses) even as burglary, robbery, and vehicle theft decline. The increase in calls without a proportional increase in major crime may reflect population growth, increased community engagement, or changing reporting patterns.

How Duluth Compares With Nearby Communities

Comparing crime rates across cities requires caution. Different agencies may use different reporting systems, and population sizes vary widely. Duluth (pop. ~32,000) should not be compared by raw crime totals with larger cities like Johns Creek (pop. ~82,000) or smaller cities like Berkeley Lake (pop. ~2,000).

The most reliable comparison available is at the county level from GBI data. In 2021, Gwinnett County's index crime rate was 3.39 per 1,000 residents — among the lowest of any large Georgia county. However, this figure may reflect NIBRS transition reporting issues rather than an actual crime level, as it represents a dramatic decrease from the 2019 rate of approximately 15.95 per 1,000.

Duluth's reported 50%+ reductions in burglary, robbery, and vehicle theft in 2024 suggest the city is performing better than state and national averages. Georgia's statewide violent crime rate was 315.5 per 100,000 in 2021, and the national violent crime rate decreased 4% from 2023 to 2024.

Five Under-Covered Findings

1. Duluth's crime reductions far exceed national trends. While the FBI reported a 12.3% national decrease in burglary, Duluth reported a 56% decrease — roughly 4.5 times the national rate. Vehicle theft fell 52% locally versus 21.6% nationally.

2. Calls for service increased 30% in December 2025. Even as major crime fell, police workload surged. This means officers are busier than ever, handling more non-criminal calls, traffic incidents, and community interactions.

3. The Real-Time Crime Center has 400+ cameras. This is an extraordinarily high camera density for a city of 32,000 — roughly one camera per 80 residents. The center can send live video to officers before they arrive at a call scene.

4. Civilian ambassadors now handle 20% of calls. The Public Safety Ambassadors Program has fundamentally changed how Duluth deploys police resources, freeing sworn officers from non-confrontational calls like fraud reports and traffic direction.

5. Duluth PD does not publish annual crime statistics. The department directs residents to third-party sites (SpotCrime, MyLocalCrime) rather than maintaining its own public crime data dashboard. This limits transparency and makes independent verification of crime trends difficult.

So, Is Duluth, Georgia Safe?

Based on the available data:

Violent crime appears to be low and declining. Duluth PD reported a 57% reduction in robbery. In a city of 32,000, homicides are rare. The department has maintained Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police certification for 15 consecutive years — a standard few departments achieve.

Property crime appears to be declining significantly. Burglary fell 56% and vehicle theft fell 52% in 2024 — far exceeding national trends.

Police resources are substantial for the population. With 44 patrol officers, 400+ cameras, a Real-Time Crime Center, and an $11.2 million budget, Duluth invests heavily in public safety.

However, data transparency is limited. Duluth PD does not publish annual crime totals, making it impossible to independently verify long-term trends or calculate exact crime rates per capita. The calls-for-service increase (30% in December 2025) suggests growing workload pressure.

Is Duluth safe? The available evidence points toward yes — crime is declining, police resources are well-funded, and the department has invested in technology and community policing. But safety varies by neighborhood, time of day, and individual circumstances. No city is universally "safe," and residents should remain vigilant regardless of aggregate statistics.

Connection to Duluth's Growth

As Duluth continues to grow — with major developments like the 1,400-home Portman project and new apartment communities — the question of whether public safety keeps pace with development becomes increasingly important.

The city's Tax Allocation District has redirected millions in property-tax growth toward downtown redevelopment, and the Gwinnett County budget funds county-wide public safety services. Understanding how these investments interact with crime trends is essential for taxpayers.

For those considering moving to Duluth, the crime data is encouraging — but the transparency gaps mean residents should request full crime statistics directly from the Duluth Police Department Records Division (770-623-2771) for the most complete picture.

Data Limitations

This investigation encountered several data limitations that should be noted:

• No multi-year absolute crime totals: Duluth PD released percentage changes for 2024 but not the underlying raw numbers, making it impossible to calculate exact crime rates per capita or compare against prior years' absolute figures.
• GBI database unavailable: The GBI's online crime statistics database was not accessible during this investigation. Published GBI summary reports provide county-level data, not city-specific data.
• NIBRS transition: Georgia transitioned to full NIBRS reporting in October 2019. This transition may create apparent changes in crime data between pre-2019 and post-2019 figures that reflect reporting methodology changes rather than actual crime trends.
• Total department staffing not disclosed: Only the Uniform Patrol Division's 44 officers are publicly documented. The total sworn complement is not available in public records.
• Multi-year budget trend: Only the FY2023 police budget figure was verifiable from available records. Earlier and later years' police-specific budgets could not be independently confirmed.
• Response times: No public response-time data was found.

Official Data & Sources

• Duluth Police Department — department information and services
• Duluth PD Uniform Patrol Division — 44 sworn officers, patrol structure
• Duluth PD Records Division — records request information
• Duluth PD Recruiting (joinduluthpd.com) — starting salary $64,755
• Duluth PD Instagram (@duluthgapolice) — monthly calls-for-service data
• City of Duluth FY2023 Budget — police budget ~$11.2M (41% of city budget)
• WSB-TV: Duluth Crime Reduction Report (November 2024) — 56% burglary, 57% robbery, 52% vehicle theft reductions
• Southwest Gwinnett Magazine: Duluth Crime Reduction — Chief Carruth statement, initiative details
• Southwest Gwinnett Magazine: Chief Jacquelyn Carruth Profile — Real-Time Crime Center, 400+ cameras, ambassador program
• GBI Crime Statistics — Georgia UCR program
• GBI 2021 Crime Statistics Summary Report — statewide and county-level data
• FBI Crime Data Explorer — national UCR/NIBRS data
• U.S. Census Bureau: Duluth, GA — population data
• Gwinnett County FY2024 Budget — Gwinnett County Police: 936 sworn officers