For the past few years, the Soddy-Daisy City Commission has been investing more in its police department - and those efforts are paying off, according to Police Chief Phil Hamrick.
Since around 2010-2011, he said commissioners have approved funding for the hiring of five more officers, as well as for new equipment and cars requested by the department.
"Anything that the police department has asked for that they've needed, they've gotten," said Hamrick.
He told commissioners at their March 16 meeting that crime has gone down since the city increased its investment in the police department. Between 2010 and 2015, crimes against persons, including murder, rape and assault, were down by 57 percent in Soddy-Daisy, he reported.
"All crime across the country went down, but not that drastic," said Hamrick.
Comparatively, in the same period, crimes against persons decreased by 38 percent in Red Bank, 6 percent in Chattanooga and 10 percent across the state, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's website.
Burglaries in the city of Soddy-Daisy have decreased from their high point of 118 in 2008 to 65 in 2016, Hamrick continued.
"The commissioners decided [in 2010] they wanted to boost our numbers and get tough on crime, and [the data] really reflect the backing of the commissioners and the things they wanted done," Hamrick said.
The SDPD has also increased its clearance rate, or the percentage of reported cases that are cleared through arrest or lack of prosecution. In 2010, the SDPD's clearance rate was 60 percent, which it raised to 77 percent in 2015. In comparison, Red Bank's clearance rate went from 30 to 60 percent in the same period, Chattanooga's dropped from 29 to 21 percent and the state's went up from 36 to 40 percent.
In addition to the commissioners' support, Hamrick credits the SDPD's success to officers going above and beyond the call of duty.
"Our officers up here, they work hard," he said. "They'll take a small case and work and work on it until they clear it."