Georgia County Disputes "Burglary Capital of America" Claim

Back in March, Patch reported on some recent statistics analyzed by FindtheHome.com regarding crime rates throughout America's communities and neighborhoods.

The company had researched recent estimates from the American Community Survey (2014) and then determined the U.S. county in every state with the highest burglary rate per 100,000 people. It sorted the list from lowest to highest burglary rates and included total burglaries and violent crime statistics for each county.

​It only considered counties with a population ​equal to or greater than​ the 50th percentile within the state, and Sumter County, in southwest Georgia, came in at No. 1 on the list.

The story, entitled Burglary Capital of America a Small Georgia County, generated some strong reactions throughout the community, and now, the Sumter County Sheriff's Department says the statistics used in FindtheHome.com's analysis don't accurately portray crime rates in the community.

According to Sumter County’s uniform crime reporting (UCR) statistics for 2014, violent crimes in Sumter County totaled 337, 16 of which were unfounded.

"A total of 109 have been cleared, and according to the FBI, their numbers show a total of 592 which is more than what records show," says Sgt. Heather Trussell.

Patch's original story reported that FindtheHome.com said that Sumter County had 669 burglaries in 2014, or 2,197.8 burglaries per 100,000 people. It also had 212 violent crimes, or 666.6 such incidents per 100,000.

"The UCR is the reporting of crimes in each county and it is reported to the Georgia Criminal Information Center in order to generate statics of the crime rates," Trussell said. "It also keeps a record of what crimes have been solved, and any property theft that has been recovered.

"The UCR program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of nearly 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention," she said. "The program’s primary objective is to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management; however, its data have over the years become one of the country’s leading social indicators.

"Criminologists, sociologists, legislators, municipal planners, the media, and other students of criminal justice use the data for varied research and planning purposes."