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100% of homicides solved over last 2 years in Cobb County, police say

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Updated  March 2, 2023 12:14am EST
Cobb County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Police department claims 100 percent solve rate for homicides

This is the second year in a row the Cobb County Police Department can claim their detectives have been able to clear every since homicide within their jurisdiction. Here's how they say they did it.

COBB COUNTY, Ga - Cobb County Police say they have solved every homicide that has occurred in their jurisdiction in the past two years.

"Over the last two years, 23 months, we've had 62 homicides and solved 100% of those homicides," said Lt. Tommy Noles with the Homicide Unit.

That is 100% of the homicides solved since March 2021. That is a big difference compared to the average rate across the country.

"It's around a 54% clearance rate nationally," said Chief Stuart VanHoozer.

Cobb County police investigate a triple shooting that left two people dead at an Austell apartment on July 11, 2022.

Cobb County police investigate a triple shooting that left two people dead at an Austell apartment on July 11, 2022. (FOX 5)

While most homicides are solved in 48 to 72 hours, others have been more difficult.

"We've had several cases that, at first, we thought we're never going to be able to solve this, but our guys stuck to it," said Lt. Noles.

Police say technology has been a big help. For instance, the Real Time Crime Center. It allows officers to utilize hundreds of cameras across the county to see crimes as they occur and get crucial information to responding officers. That is not to mention facial recognition technology and LPRs.

"License plate recognition is probably the strongest tool we have that we use, we have Flock cameras all over the county," said Chief VanHoozer.

Cobb County police investigating a shooting at a Walmart.

Cobb County police investigating a shooting at a Walmart on Chastain Meadows Parkway.  (FOX 5 Atlanta)

The chief says none of that would be helpful without dedicated detectives who go above and beyond.

"They sacrifice hours and hours, with no sleep, and they exhaust all leads without fail," said Chief VanHoozer.

The chief says some of the credit should go to the community too.

"Great community support and that helps us to be able to police and it makes us want to police harder for our community," said Chief VanHoozer.

Law enforcement lines the streets outside the Hampton Glen subdivision just west of Marietta after two deputies were killed while serving a warrant on a home on Sept. 8, 2022.

Law enforcement lines the streets outside the Hampton Glen subdivision just west of Marietta after two deputies were killed while serving a warrant on a home on Sept. 8, 2022. (FOX 5)

Detectives say their reward for all the hard work is seeing the families get justice.

"I've seen a lot of hugs and tears between the detectives and the victims’ families. That's the ultimate payoff right there," said Lt. Noles.

The chief says solving crimes is one thing, but they also do a lot of crime prevention. He says they work closely with other agencies and the Cobb County District Attorney's Office. They also go into communities that have a higher propensity for violence to have a police presence and to get to know the people who live there.