Greenville police report 16% drop in crime, present new citizen-survey results

Greenville Police Chief Thompson told the Greenville City Council at a July work session that reported Part I crimes—violent and property crimes combined—are down 16% in the first six months of the year and that a new citizen survey tied to the department's Axon system shows strong public approval of officers and dispatchers.

"We are down a total of 16% for the first 6 months," Chief Thompson said, and he provided a breakdown showing violent crimes recorded at this point fell from 173 last year to 169 this year and property crimes fell from 1,369 to 1,122. "That is a very good reduction," he said.

The chief said the department began using the Axon "My90" survey tool in April at no additional cost to the city as part of its Axon body-camera and in-car camera package. The system sends a short survey by text to people after officers clear nonviolent calls. Thompson said the department's response rate so far is about 16%, which he said is higher than the roughly 3% response rate some other agencies report.

"Ninety-one percent rated their interaction with the officer positive," Thompson said. He also cited related metrics from the survey: 79% rated the contact "very positive," 93% said they received the help they needed, 95% said they were treated with fairness and respect, and 91% expressed an overall positive view of the agency. He said dispatchers received similarly strong ratings (91% positive; 76% "very positive").

Thompson showed sampled free-text comments and said the tool's keyword and comment-search features let staff review patterns and specific praise or complaints. He said the survey also identifies top safety concerns reported by respondents: homelessness, traffic offenses and crashes, and quality-of-life issues such as noise, disorderly conduct, litter and theft.

Council members asked about specific categories and response patterns. Thompson and administrative staff provided additional figures: motor vehicle thefts had declined from 131 last year to 85 this year (a 35% decline), and reports of auto break-ins fell from 388 to 326 (a 16% reduction). Thompson said officers handle over 500 traffic-related incidents a month. He told the council that satisfaction ratings were similar across racial groups and that the survey remained open to responses after the initial notification, though he did not give the exact number of days the survey link remains active.

Thompson also summarized areas respondents identified as potential improvements: 43% said they were satisfied with the level of service, 22% asked for increased patrol visibility, 8% asked for increased community engagement, 5% asked for more officer training and 4% asked for increased staffing. He said the department is working on staffing increases.

After the presentation, the council moved into executive session to discuss legal and property matters, including an encroachment on city property, a southern-side community center annexation agreement and potential claim, expansion of city services tied to an economic development project, disposition of city property and a potential contract for work on City Hall, legal issues around billboard regulations, the Conestee Dam rehabilitation project, a central contract with UHC for outreach services, and a potential donation of property in the West End to the city.

Votes at a glance: the council voted to move into executive session under "subsection a 2 or 5 of 34 70"; the motion was seconded and the council approved the motion (final roll-call tally not specified in the record).

The presentation and survey results were presented as information for the council; no formal policy actions or budget votes related to the survey were recorded in the public session. The council's discussion focused on data details, community concerns highlighted by the survey, and next steps for comparing results with other agencies and continuing outreach.