WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Berkow on Chatham County's Crime Problem, One Year Later
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Savannah-Chatham police chief Michael Berkow.
SAVANNAH, GA--A year ago today a new police chief took over the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. The city manager hired Chief Michael Berkow last fall.
Berkow said his goal is to make the department a world-class organization. To do that, he upped the standard for hiring new police officers, requiring them to be physically fit and teaching them the ropes by walking a beat.
He shifted more resources to the individual precincts and officers are making about 30 drug arrests a week, and that's up from the year before.
"We are making more arrests, we are deployed differently we are deployed smarter, we have realigned our shifts and time of personnel deployment to match up with demand," said Berkow. "We are doing a lot of things so the public should see better quality service, faster."
Berkow's plans for the next twelve months are more of the same.
Overall, city leaders say they are happy with the progress Berkow has made. They still want to see him hire more officers and do more to reduce gun violence and juvenile crime.
Reported by: Michelle Paynter, mpaynter@wtoc.com
