Only three days into the new year, WFMY News 2 sat down with the man in charge of the Greensboro Police Department, to reflect on 2018 about what went right, and what officers can learn in 2019.
Chief Wayne Scott says crime statistics across the board are down in 2018, as compared with the previous year which he attributes, in part, to a crackdown on serial offenders.
"We had a concentrated focus on those people in our community that we thought were prolific offenders," Scott said.
"We worked really closely with our Guilford County District Attorney's office, and we worked with the United States attorney here to look at those small percentage of people that were just continuously victimizing our community."
He said two of the main things Greensboro police face daily are the abundance of opioids and subsequent overdoses, plus, a higher rate of violent crime among younger people.
"We talk about violence, and we have seen the trend in violence go to younger people," he said, "What’s concerning is the age at which these offenders are now. We were seeing kids 14 and 15 years old being caught with guns, you know, it’s a whole different issue for us about how do you deal with that."
Chief Scott says, his main goal moving forward is to better connect with the community, something which goes hand in hand with reducing crime.
"I'm extremely pleased to tell you that we have built a trust with in parts of our community that we didn’t have prior to this," he said, "A lot of times we see that people in the community are giving us information and helping us solve crimes quicker, which prevents a second or third crime."
Find out about how to make your neighborhood safer and community programs with the Greensboro Police Department.
Check out ways to make suggestions and connect with the Greensboro Police Department.