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Hiram police chief defends department size and crime data amid dissolution debate
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Summary
Hiram's police chief told residents the department expanded in recent years to meet rising calls for service and defended low crime rates when accounting for a large daily visitor population; the presentation was given in the same session where residents pressed the council about legislation that could dissolve the city.
Hiram Police Chief presented staffing numbers, crime statistics and calls-for-service trends at a special called City Council meeting, defending the department's size as appropriate for the city's workload.
"You're living in one of the safest communities in the state of Georgia," the chief said, noting that on any given day some 65,000 people visit Hiram and that crime statistics should be viewed in that broader context. The chief said the department's crime rate for the 65,000 daily population is roughly "0.38 per thousand" and that property crime and larceny/shoplifting compose the majority of incidents.
The chief described a rebuilding effort that began after COVID and said the department was previously understaffed. He said the city's police complement has grown toward authorized levels to respond to a roughly 38% increase in calls for service over five years. "That's why we had to add the 8 people," he told attendees, adding that most new hires provide direct patrol and investigative services.
The chief said officers issue warnings far more often than citations, characterizing the department's approach as focused on voluntary compliance rather than revenue generation. "It has been our goal since we arrived... that we're not going to use citations as a way to tax people," he said, adding that citations are reserved for the most serious violations.
Officials and residents asked about the operational consequences if state legislation were to remove municipal governance and policing from Hiram. The chief recounted a mutual-aid example in which deputies took 47 minutes to arrive at an accident scene and said county resources alone would struggle to cover the city's current demand without significant new hires.
The chief concluded by inviting residents to follow up after the meeting and by reiterating that the department investigates complaints, monitors body-camera footage and has seen the number of founded complaints decline with the introduction of body cameras.
Why it matters: Police staffing and budget choices are central to the debate over whether Hiram can sustain services without municipal authority; the chief's presentation was intended to explain operational costs and reassure residents about policing priorities and oversight.
