In Fayette, serious crimes down 27 %

Homicides went the other way: 3 in 2019 compared to none in 2018; northeast Fayette had the most crimes, least in southwest part of the county — 

Crime statistics provided by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office for 2019 showed serious crimes were down 27 percent compared to 2018.

Totals provided by Phoenix Analytics, Inc. showed 384 Part 1 crimes, those of a more serious nature, for 2019 compared to 523 Part 1 crimes in 2018. That data showed total Part 1 crimes in 2019 deceasing 27 percent over 2018.

The crimes most prevalent in the Part 1 category were larceny from vehicles, most often entering autos, and thefts not pertaining to vehicles. There were 184 incidents of larceny from vehicles in 2018, with that number decreasing to 96 in 2019, a 48 percent decrease.

Non-vehicle larceny crimes for 2018 totaled 180, with that number dropping to 128 in 2019, a 29 percent decrease.

Burglaries saw a 6 percent increase in 2019, with 94 occurring in 2019 compared to 89 in 2018.

Aggravated assaults increased 4 percent in 2019, with a total of 24 compared to 23 in 2018.

The sheriff’s office in 2019 worked three homicides, while there were none in 2018.

Rape cases in 2019 showed a 43 percent decrease, with four occurring. That compares to seven in 2018.

Robberies in 2019 totaled four, the same number as in 2018.

Crime data also showed the occurrence crimes in the county’s five geographical zones.

Zone 1 includes north central and northwest Fayette, while Zone 2 includes portions of north central Fayette and Zone 3 includes northeast Fayette. Zone 4 includes southwest Fayette and portions of the central Fayette area. Zone 5 includes east central and southeast Fayette.

Viewed by zone, the breakdown of the 375 Part 1 crimes showed 84 in Zone 1, 77 in Zone 2, 92 in Zone 3, 38 in Zone 4 and 84 in Zone 5.

Compared to 2018, Zone 1 showed no change for 2019, while Zone 2 had a 28 percent decrease, Zone 3 had a 19 percent decrease, Zone 4 had a 63 percent decrease and Zone 5 experienced a 20 percent decrease.

The zone mapping showed that the higher concentrations of Part 1 crimes occurred in the Ga. Highway 85 and Ga. Highway 279 areas, with the predominate crime being thefts from vehicles.

A time of day analysis for Part 1 crimes showed the 2-5 p.m. time frame had the highest incidence of crimes, with another spike occurring hear midnight.

The analysis also looked at vehicle crashes, where 7-8 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. came with the highest number of vehicle accidents.

Weekdays had the highest number of crashes, with Fridays leading at 269, followed by Thursdays at 264. Mondays through Wednesdays ranged from 225-245 vehicle accidents.