CRIME IN GEORGIA, 1996 
Georgia Uniform Crime Reporting Program 
 
This annual report focuses on index crimes and arrests by state and local law enforcement agencies throughout Georgia. Additional data stored in GCIC computerized files, can be retrieved for special purpose reports upon request. Contact Willene White-Smith at (404) 244-2840 or fax your inquiries to (404) 2442743. 
Milton E. Nix, Jr. Director, G.B.I. 
 
PROFILE OF REPORTED INDEX CRIMES, 1996 
 
Murder 
 
617 
 
0.1 
 
Rape 
 
2,250 
 
0.5 
 
Robbery 
 
14,664 
 
3.3 
 
Aggravated Assault 
 
27,550 
 
6.2 
 
Burglary 
 
77,851 
 
17.6 
 
Larceny 
 
275,931 
 
62.2 
 
Motor Vehicle Theft 
 
44,497 
 
10.1 
 
8.4 30.6 199.4 374.7 
1058.8 3752.6 605.2 
 
 COMPARISON OF REPORTED INDEX CRIMES AND ARRESTS, 1992-1996 
 
Type of Crime Murder Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault 
";lo 
!Total Violent Crime 
 
1992 
 
1992 1993 
 
1993 1994 
 
1994 1995 
 
1995 1996 
 
1996 
 
Incidents Arrests Incidents Arrests Incidents Arrests Incidents Arrests Incidents Arrests 
 
697 
 
678 
 
737 
 
810 
 
671 
 
602 
 
654 
 
608 
 
617 
 
508 
 
3,089 1,198 
 
2,287 
 
913 
 
2,223 
 
769 
 
2,423 
 
814 
 
2,250 
 
750 
 
16,334 4,316 16,436 4,446 
 
14,878 3,989 14,479 4,019 
 
14,664 3,754 
 
27,421 15,382 28,157 15,556 
 
25,650 13,857 28,058 15,384 
 
27,550 13,823 
 
47,541 21,574 47,617 21,725 43,422 19,217 45,614 20,825 
 
45,081 18,835 
 
Burglary Larceny Motor Vehicle Theft 
 
92,145 235,233 
37,837 
 
10,839 40,658 
4,053 
 
85,385 232,907 
39,479 
 
10,311 39,147 
4,166 
 
70,561 243,973 
36,220 
 
9,528 40,513 
3,903 
 
72,795 258,224 
39,970 
 
9,274 43,468 
4,262 
 
77,851 275,931 
44,497 
 
9,322 42,817 
4,350 
 
!Total Property Crime 
 
365,215 55,550 357,771 53,624 350,754 53,944 370,989 57,004 398,279 56,489 
 
!Total Index Crime 
 
412,756 77,124 405,388 75,349 394,176 73,161 416,603 77,829 443,360 75,324 
 
Age Group 
0-16 17-21 22-29 30-39 40-49. 50+ 
Total 
 
ARRESTS FOR INDEX CRIMES, BY AGE GROUP, 1992-1996 
 
1992 
 
% 
 
1993 
 
% 
 
1994 
 
% 
 
1995 
 
% 
 
10,637 16,808 20,654 19,214 
6,919 2,892 
 
13.8 21.8 26.8 24.9 
9.0 3.7 
 
11,469 16,798 18,924 18,888 
6,638 2,632 
 
15.2 22.3 25.1 25.1 
8.8 3.5 
 
13,350 16,369 16,721 17,494 
6,751 2,476 
 
18.2 22.4 22.9 23.9 
9.2 3.4 
 
13,251 18,005 17,316 18,966 
7,663 2,628 
 
17.0 23.1 22.3 24.4 
9.8 3.4 
 
77,124 100.0 75,349 100.0 
 
73,161 100.0 77,829 100.0 
 
1996 
12,078 19,354 16,756 17,018 
7,570 2,548 
 
%1 
16.0 25.7 22.2 22.6 10.1 
3.4 
 
75,324 100.0 
 
2 
 
 PROFILE OF PERSONS ARRESTED BY SPECIFIC AGE, SEX, AND RACE, 1996 
 
Type of Crime 
Murder Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault 
!Total Violent Crime Burglary Larceny Motor Vehicle Theft 
!Total Property Crime 
!Total Index Crime 
 
16 and Under 
15 80 397 1,024 
1,516 2,053 7,627 
882 
10,562 
12,078 
 
17-21 
177 178 1,316 2,829 
4,500 2,640 10,823 1,391 
14,854 
19,354 
 
AGE 22-29 
163 240 1,009 3,667 
5,079 1,903 8,827 
947 
11,677 
16,756 
 
30-39 
91 166 715 3,711 
4,683 1,958 9,596 
781 
12,335 
17,018 
 
40-49 
31 74 264 1,807 
2,176 649 
4,450 295 
5,394 
7,570 
 
50+ 
31 12 53 785 
881 119 1,494 
54 
1,667 
2,548 
 
jType of Crime 
Murder Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault 
!Total Violent Crime Burglary Larceny Motor Vehicle Theft 
lrotal Property Crime 
!Total Index Crime 
 
SEX 
 
Male 
 
Female 
 
453 743 3,530 10,716 
 
55 7 
224 3,107 
 
15,442 8,505 
29,727 3,936 
 
3,393 817 
13,090 414 
 
42,168 
 
14,321 
 
57,610 
 
17,714 
 
RACE 
 
White 
 
Non-White 
 
106 215 661 3,975 
 
402 535 3,093 9,848 
 
4,957 
 
13,878 
 
4,056 
 
5,266 
 
16,997 
 
25,820 
 
1,443 
 
2,907 
 
;:__ 
 
22,496 
 
33,993 
 
27,453 
 
47,871 
 
3 
 
 Melropolltan Statlstlcal Arwa 
Albany, GA MSA 
 
County 
 
Populatlon 
 
%of Total 
 
Dougherty Lee 
 
102,142 19,765 
 
Murder 
 
Rape Robbery 
 
Aggravated Bu la 
 
Assault 
 
rg ry 
 
Larceny 
 
Motor Vehicle Theft 
 
5 
 
61 
 
106 
 
387 
 
847 
 
2 ,0 9 9 
 
378 
 
2 
 
1 
 
7 
 
24 
 
170 
 
330 
 
32 
 
Athens, GA MSA 
 
Clarke Madison Oconee 
 
94,066 23,837 21,045 
 
14 
 
62 
 
193 
 
463 
 
1,133 
 
5,518 
 
483 
 
0 
 
0 
 
0 
 
0 
 
8 
 
9 
 
0 
 
3 
 
19 
 
99 
 
295 
 
26 
 
Index Crime Total 3,883 
566 
7,866 17 
444 
 
Atlanta, GA MSA 
 
Barrow Bartow Garrell Cherokee Clayton Cobb Coweta Oel<alb Douglas Fayette For.;yth Fulton Gwinnett Henry Newton Paulding Pickens Rockdale Spalding Wallon 
 
35,864 64,274 79,793 113,449 203,109 530,420 70,657 602,166 83,23379,133 59,226 719,958 452,361 82,139 50,415 58,070 16,970 64,652 59,420 46,587 
 
0 
 
3 
 
3 
 
12 
 
3 
 
33 
 
1 
 
7 
 
8 
 
79 
 
11 
 
140 
 
5 
 
10 
 
57 
 
206 
 
3 
 
17 
 
1 
 
1 
 
1 
 
5 
 
228 
 
550 
 
7 
 
106 
 
2 
 
5 
 
3 
 
8 
 
1 
 
13 
 
0 
 
2 
 
7 
 
29 
 
5 
 
15 
 
1 
 
5 
 
24 18 72 12 429 591 69 2,408 48 10 12 5,672 385 31 46 6 
0 54 74 
7 
 
Augusta, GA-SC MSA 
 
Columbia Richmond 
 
83,295 204,297 
 
2 
 
3 
 
25 
 
35 
 
103 
 
712 
 
,_,_ ~~,?T'' +~ 
~\: 
 
. 
 
' 
 
Chattanooga, TN-GAMSA 
 
Catoosa Dade Walker 
 
 - ..... ~ - 1 O 
48,438 14,497 62,438 
 
 
 
1 
 
8 
 
12 
 
0 
 
0 
 
9 
 
0 
 
0 
 
3 
 
67 215 270 110 567 1,091 160 999 208 28 204 9,298 665 110 132 62 55 188 309 252 
 
348 704 702 580 2,789 4,228 637 9,590 492 306 543 14,356 3,548 475 462 380 92 516 593 371 
 
868 976 2,690 2 ,086 11,488 18,150 1,841 32,856 2 ,730 1,393 1,985 53,794 16,699 1,367 1,548 1,109 130 2 ,481 2 ,101 1168 
 
62 
 
369 
 
1,917 
 
665 
 
3,435 
 
7,544 
 
77 
 
187 
 
1, 139 
 
7 
 
24 
 
111 
 
23 
 
63 
 
117 
 
Columbus, GA-ALMSA 
 
Chattahoochee Harris Muscogee 
 
16,304 20,626 194,997 
 
0 
 
0 
 
0 
 
0 
 
6 
 
0 
 
16 
 
24 
 
367 
 
12 
 
27 
 
4 
 
24 
 
91 
 
128 
 
481 
 
2,222 
 
8,361 
 
111 260 282 197 1,932 2,822 215 8,328 368 107 241 13,874 1,890 129 171 164 
10 237 287 147 
158 1,950 
 
k 
128 26 4 
 
1,421 2,188 4,052 2,993 17,292 27,033 2,937 54,444 3,866 1,846 2,991 97,772 23 ,300 2,119 2,370 1,735 
289 3,512 3,384 1951 
2,536 14,444 
~ 
-,.._,J ... .,.. ......... 
1,552 177 210 
 
2 
 
45 
 
25 
 
274 
 
838 
 
12,309 
 
Macon. GA MSA 
 
Bibb Houston Jones Peach Twiggs 
 
Savannah, GA MSA 
 
Bryan Chatham Effingham 
 
161 ,328 102,485 
22,562 23,705 10,306 
20,781 234,719 
31,785 
 
22 
 
80 
 
402 
 
491 
 
2,875 
 
10,566 
 
4 
 
42 
 
96 
 
290 
 
895 
 
4,109 
 
0 
 
0 
 
4 
 
28 
 
96 
 
244 
 
0 
 
6 
 
9 
 
77 
 
117 
 
345 
 
0 
 
0 
 
0 
 
9 
 
59 
 
52 
 
1 
 
4 
 
10 
 
19 
 
128 
 
449 
 
24 
 
92 
 
977 
 
864 
 
3,1 90 
 
12,135 
 
0 
 
1 
 
3 
 
6 
 
29 
 
161 
 
1,540 278 14 24 5 
39 1,444 
15 
 
15,976 5,714 
386 578 125 
650 18,726 
215 
 
total MSA's Total Non MSAs Total Stat. 
 
4,985,314 67.8% 2,367,686 32.2% 7,353,000 100 
 
474 1,740 
 
143 
 
510 
 
617 2,250 
 
12,906 1,758 14,664 
 
19,018 8 ,532 27 ,550 
 
57,776 20,075 77,851 
 
213 ,0 9 3 62,838 
275,931 
 
39 ,181 5,316 44,497 
 
344,188 99 ,172 
443,360 
 
4 
 
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During 1996, there were five law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in Georgia. The following officers will always be remembered for the ultimate sacrifice that they gave in order to make the jurisdictions that they served a safer haven for citizens in Georgia: 
 
Officer Richard L. Cash Forest Park PD 
 
January 3, 1996 
 
Deputy Brett C. Dickey Gilmer Co. SO 
 
February 13, 1996 
 
Deputy Stacy R. Burnett Johnson State Prison June 20, 1996 
 
Detective George Hester Ocilla PD 
 
September 12, 1996 
 
Dep. Sheriff Durwin L. Potts Whitfield Co. SO December 20, 1996 
 
...Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. 
Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. 
Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. 
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
 
5 
 
 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS KILLED or ASSAULTED 
DURING1996 
 
TYPE of ACTIVITY: 
Disturbances Burglaries Robberies Attempted Arrests Civil Disorder Transp. Prisoners Susp. Persons Ambush Mentally Ill Traffic Stops All Other TOTAL: 
 
152 5 2 300 
281 5 
87 68 
1 250 13 
99 
164 
877 
200 
 
OFFICERS ASSAULTED IN GEORGIA 
 
150 
 
100 
 
50 
 
0 
 
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6 
 
 Georgia's Family Violence law is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the following acts between past or present spouses, persons who are parents of the same child, parents and children, stepparents and stepchildren, foster parents and foster children, or other persons living or formerly living in the same household: 
(1) Any felony; or 
(2) Commission of offenses of battery, simple battery, simple assault, assault, criminal damage to property, unlawful restraint, or criminal trespass. 
The term Family Violence shall not be deemed to include reasonable discipline administered by a parent to a child in the form of corporal punishment, restraint, of detention. 
During 1996 the number of reported incidents of Family Violence more than doubled the number reported during 1995 (17,816). This large increase is primarily attributed to the fact that the data processed for 1996 represents one full year of reported incidents. GCIC's 1995 data only reflected July through December data since the program was implemented during July, 1996. The 1995 report represents the year that the appropriations funds were finally made available. There were 38,917 reported incidents of Family Violence in Georgia statewide during 1996. Children were present in 48% (18,793) of the cases and 23% (9,059) were involved in the reported incidents. The state of Georgia continues to provide the Family Violence Incident Forms to law enforcement agencies throughout the state at no charge. 
7 
 
 FAMILY VIOLENCE AGGRESSOR BY SEX 
 
ABUETYPE FATAL INJURY PERMANENTLY DISABLED TEMPORARILY DISABLED BROKEN BONES GUN/KNIFE WOUNDS SUPERFICIAL WOUNDS PROPERTY DAMAGE THREATS ABUSIVE LANGUAGE SEXUAL ABUSE OTHER ABUSE TOTALS 
 
MALE 
31 41 319 190 403 
16,650 2,581 3,909 2,607 
104 
4,364 
31,199 
 
9 5 59 19 390 3,259 685 720 645 4 1,186 6,981 
 
NOTE: There were 737 Family Violence Incident Reports that did not provide the Sex of the Aggressor.  
 
10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 
 
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8 
 
 WEAPONS USED IN FAMILY VIOLENCE, 1996 
 
WEAPON TYPES FIREARM CUTTING/KNIFE HAND/FIST OTHER WEAPONS 
TOTALS 
 
OCCURRENCES 869 
1,964 18,155 17,929 
38,917 
 
FIREARM CUTTING/KNIFE 
 
2% 
 
5% 
 
OTHER WEAPONS 46% 
 
HAND/FIST 47% 
 
RELATIONSHIP OF AGGRESSOR TO VICTIM 
 
PRESENT SPOUSE 
 
16,235 
 
FORMER SPOUSE CHILD PARENT STEPPARENT STEPCHILD FOSTER PARENT FOSTER CHILD UNKNOWN * 
 
2,936 1,934 2 ,135 
359 200 
31 340 14,747 
 
* Information was not given to the arresting officer 
 
TOTALS 
 
38,917 
 
TOTALS 0 
PRESENT SPOUSE FORMER SPOUSE 
CHILD PARENT 
 STEPPARENT STEPCHILD I 
FOSTER PARENT 
FOSTER CHILD  UNKNOWN  
 
38,917 2,000 4,000 
 
6,000 
 
8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 
 
 
9 
 
 POLICE ACTION TAKEN 
 
ARRESTED 
 
11,392 
 
CITATION 
 
471 
 
SEPARATION 6,970 
 
MEDIATION 
 
4,227 
 
OTHER 
 
8,933 
 
NONE 
 
6,924 
 
TOTAL 
 
38,917 
 
NONE 
 
23% 
MEDIATION 11% 
 
10 
 
 ,-----------1 
 
I 
 
I 
 
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Georgia's Family Violence Hotline #: 
 
I 
 
1-800-33HAVEN 
(1-800-334-2836) 
 
I I 
 
I 
 
The National Family Violence Hotline #: 
 
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1 ;!~~;~7~:~~2~:E 
 
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11 
 
 Georgia Crime Information Center P.O. Box 370748 Decatur, GA 30037-0748 
 
BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE 
PAID 
PERMENT NO. 244