The city of Tucker and DeKalb Police both say the city saw a rise in homicides in 2019 while property crime decreased.

“Tucker went from five homicides in 2018 to seven homicides in 2019. According to police, the victims in each case were targeted, rather than these being random crimes,” a press release from the city says. “Thanks to great work by DeKalb Police detectives, most of those cases were closed quickly.”

Tucker said the number of residential burglaries of Tucker was “cut almost in half,” showing a 43 percent decline. Overall property crimes dropped by 25 percent in 2019.

“Last year the hard work of our officers and detectives produced very positive results in the area of property crime,” Tucker’s Police Liaison, Lt. D.G. Schoeppner ,said in a press release. “We hope to use that as a platform to reduce crime in all categories in this new year.”

Business burglaries declined by 23 percent, auto thefts dropped 22 percent and entering auto crimes dropped 14 percent.

“Tucker’s partnership with the DeKalb County Police Department is strong and our citizens recognize that,” City Manager Tami Hanlin said in the press release. “Our officers are out in the community on a daily basis, forging relationships with residents and business owners. They are working diligently on new strategies in areas of high crime. Moreover, they have been great partners with our city staff and elected officials to help address the priorities of the City.”

Tucker operates under an intergovernmental agreement with the DeKalb County Police Department to provide police services and the city has its own precinct.

Michaela Vincent, a spokesperson for DeKalb Police, said the department isn’t sure why homicide numbers were up in 2019.

“We don’t have an exact answer the homicide numbers are up, but most of our homicides in 2019 were the result of a dispute, criminally related or domestic related.” Vincent said. “In regards to property crimes, we can’t pinpoint exactly why the property crimes are down, but we can attribute some of it to the community outreach on behalf our Tucker Precinct.”

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