Dunwoody Police Department’s 2011 Annual Report

Dear Citizens, With another year behind us and a new one underway, the Dunwoody Police Department’s 2011 Annual Report offers context for where we’ve been and where we plan to go next. We are proud to provide our partners and community members with the opportunity to learn about our agency’s work, revisit some important activity from this past year, and look into our future direction.

In 2011, the Dunwoody Police Department staff worked tirelessly to build upon those relationships already established while forging new ones. Our Citizen’s Police Academy, Situational Awareness class and Ride Along program continue to have great community participation. In addition, our Neighborhood Watch program is one of the most effective tools we have to combat crime in our neighborhoods. On several occasions this year, citizens reported suspicious activity in their community and we were able to make arrests as a result of those calls.

The Dunwoody Police Department continued to provide programs of benefit to teenagers. Our Police Explorer program provides an opportunity for teens to develop leadership skills and a heart for service while learning about what it takes to be a police officer. In addition, our Collision Avoidance Training (CAT) teaches teens safe driving habits. A survey of past CAT attendees completed in 2011 reveal that none of the graduates of the program have received a citation or been involved in an at-fault accident. This is quite an accomplishment! Lastly, our “It’s Party Time, And It’s No Game” drug and alcohol awareness program for 8th graders continues to be a huge success and a sought after class amongst 8th graders at Peachtree Charter Middle School.

Overall, Part 1 Crime in Dunwoody was flat in 2011 compared to 2010. Our Part 1 Crimes were down .9%; however, our Violent Crimes were down 14.4%, while our Property Crimes were down .1%. We had one homicide in 2011 - the day after Christmas. Our Detectives completed a quick and thorough investigation; arresting a number of individuals including the actual shooter, as well as the person who hired him. In addition, our Detectives were able to secure an arrest warrant against Hemy Neuman for the highly publicized “Dunwoody Daycare Murder” of Rusty Sneiderman, which occurred in 2010. Our overall arrest numbers were down in 2011; however, shoplifting arrests were up 5.3% at 460; drug arrests were up 25% at 205; and wanted person arrests were up 26.6% at 162.

The Dunwoody Police Department continues to be a leader in law enforcement’s use of social media. On April 9, 2011, we “tweeted” all of our calls for service for 24 hours straight. This event was well-received and resulted in 800 additional followers for the Dunwoody Police Department on Twitter within one week. We also engaged our community via social media in our “Dunwoody Dave” photo contest. We had 68 photos of our Dunwoody Dave character submitted by participants and the winning photo was of Dunwoody Dave overlooking Hong Kong. Participation in our Interactive Defense program continues to grow and is widely praised for its ease of use for Vacation Watches.

The staff of the Dunwoody Police Department continues to deliver excellent customer service to our community, always conducting themselves in a professional, ethical and compassionate manner. I receive emails, voicemails and verbal communication from citizens weekly about our staff’s positive interactions.

I hope you find the information contained in this report useful and relevant. I would like to thank you and the entire Dunwoody community for your support of the Dunwoody Police Department. Please do not hesitate to contact the department if needed, or offer any suggestions for the improvement of the services we deliver.

Sincerely,

Billy Grogan
Chief of Police

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