APD Chief talks crime rates amid COVID-19 pandemic

(ALBANY, GA) — With plenty of people off the streets due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the police have seen a decline in the number of crimes, as well as calls into law enforcement.

Police Chief, Michael Persley says the decline happened as the good life city became a hotbed for COVID-19 cases.

“Looking back over the past two weeks, our calls to service have been lower than the first week of march before albany was really engrossed in the pandemic,” says Chief Persley.

With shelter-in-place orders going on for nearly a month, Chief Persley talks about how it’s important for people to comply with social distancing regulations, but how they could potentially lead to more crimes as well.

Chief Persley tells us, “We’re probably going on three weeks now that they’ve been enclosed inside. And you can understand that people will get agitated, and may look for other ways to get out.”

As Albany’s and Georgia’s shelter-in-place orders continue, Chief Persley is heavily advising people to keep their heads in-check as the quarantine continues.

He says, “this is really where we need people to find other methods of dealing with anger or frustration at someone. We don’t need to resort to violence.”

Chief Persley says they received assistance over the weekend from the Georgia State Patrol.