Audio clip
Mark Rawlston
During his first meeting with the city's Public Safety Committee as interim police chief, Mark Rawlston began with a little perspective.
The chief shared crime statistics that showed overall crime in Chattanooga is down 28 percent from 2001 to 2008, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports.
All violent crime categories have decreased, but Chief Rawlston highlighted homicide numbers. Since 2001, each year there have been fewer than 25 homicides in the city.
"That's pretty amazing to me," he said, noting that when he worked in major crimes, he remembers 50 homicides in 1993 alone.
Figures for 2009 have not been released from TBI, but an annual crime report from Chattanooga showed a 1.3 percent reduction in crimes including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft compared to 2008.
Burglaries have risen in recent years, but not higher than they were in 2001.
"That is the area that troubles me," the chief said.
City Councilman Andraé McGary asked the chief about potential trends in recent shootings and what police have been able to do in those types of crimes.
"We have developed some trends over this last spate of shootings that happened over the last couple of months," Chief Rawlston replied. He said he could not discuss the connections but said police are pursuing leads that connect shootings.
"How does the police force adjust, change, adapt, do whatever it's supposed to do to help ensure that the summer's as safe as it needs to be?" Mr. McGary asked.
The chief said zone and sector commanders have the flexibility to move people whenever and wherever they need to. Each zone can support the others with manpower when crime trends are spotted, he said.
Council members Carol Berz, Deborah Scott and Peter Murphy asked the chief about staffing.
The police force has 43 vacant positions, with three officers retiring or resigning soon, the chief told them.
If the City Council approves a fully funded budget, Chief Rawlston said he plans to hold two police academies, which would fill those positions and add additional officers, bringing the department total to at least 475 officers from its current level of 422 sworn officers.
Committee talking points
* Overall crime is down 28 percent since 2001
* There are 43 vacant positions in the police department
* Since 2001, each year there have been fewer than 25 homicides in the city.
* Burglaries have risen in recent years
Source: Interim Police Chief Mark Rawlston
Todd South covers courts and the military for the Times Free Press. He has worked at the paper for three years and previously covered crime and safety in Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia. Todd’s hometown is Dodge City, Kan. He served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq before returning to school for his journalism degree from the University of Georgia. Todd previously worked at the Anniston (Ala.) Star. Contact Todd ...
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