Brookhaven police credit technology and staffing for 2025 crime declines

Brookhaven Police reported on March 24 that overall index crimes declined about 12% from 2024 to 2025, with a roughly 20% drop in index crimes against persons and an 11% decrease in property index crimes, according to department leadership.

The department’s presentation to the city council emphasized two main drivers for the reductions: technology and staffing. "We had a 12% decrease from 2024 to 2025," Deputy Chief Lewis said, adding that "the most significant factors behind the reduction in our index crimes are investment in technology and our progress in staffing and retention." The department said it has moved toward data-driven, proactive policing using tools that include license-plate readers (ALPR), acoustic gunshot detection, a drone first-responder program and NIBIN ballistic matching.

Why it matters: council members and city staff said the results affect residents’ sense of safety and the city’s operational priorities and budget choices. The police told the council that the technology helps officers locate suspects and stolen vehicles faster and provides evidence for investigations while the city’s improved retention (a reported turnover near 4%) keeps experienced officers on the streets.

Key details and metrics cited by the department included roughly 228 contracted devices combining ALPR and live video cameras, a reported 73% officer adoption rate for the Flock system, eight new Skydio drone docking stations distributed across the city and a drone response time reported as under 60 seconds in some cases. The department highlighted how the drone program and gunshot detection work in tandem: the Flock Raven system alerts officers to gunfire locations, and a drone can be dispatched to provide video to ground units.

Captain Ayanna addressed recent public concerns about a video leak tied to cameras on the Peachtree Creek Greenway, saying the leak was "attributed specifically to the cameras being left on an open IP when they were upgraded" and that "no sensitive information was leaked." She also described limits on camera placement, saying the department does not place cameras in residential yards and deploys systems in public spaces or city gateways.

The department also reported operational numbers for calls and contacts. Total calls for service rose (driven in large part by officer-initiated activity), while resident-originated 911 calls were stable or slightly down. Patrol response goals were highlighted: the department reported meeting or exceeding its target of reaching priority calls in six minutes or less in more than 80% of cases, with two quarters above a 90% success rate. For 2025 the department reported about 39,000 officer–citizen interactions and 234 incidents in which some measure of force was used.

Police leadership described investigative gains as well: Brookhaven launched NIBIN in April 2025 and submitted more than 200 entries, with the department reporting dozens of leads generated from ballistic matching and other integrated systems. Leaders credited the combination of real-time data and community partnerships — including resident-registered doorbell cameras — for improved solvability on crimes reported shortly after they occur.

Council members asked about the risk of overusing surveillance technology and about the threshold for saturation. The chief said city leadership and the city manager’s office review public-safety investments and that current deployments are guided by data, operational needs and policy. Council members praised the department’s results while emphasizing continued oversight.

What’s next: staff said they will continue to refine deployments, report back on any policy changes prompted by DeKalb County input on high-risk structures and provide follow-up information about the video leak and redaction processes for open-records requests.