Free community forum on crime to be held tonight at the Douglass Theatre

If you have a concern about crime and you want your voice to be heard, plan to attend a forum called “Where Crime Happens,” from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at the Douglass Theatre. Top law enforcement officials will take questions from a panel of community members. Officials also will answer questions submitted by audience members.

The forum follows The Telegraph’s publication Sunday and Monday of a series of stories about crime.

Several months ago, Telegraph reporter Amy Leigh Womack started collecting statistics for a range of crimes that law enforcement agencies are required to report to the state. Those statistics eventually become part of the public domain, published as part of what are called Uniform Crime Statistics.

With so much emphasis on crime, particularly in Macon -- for instance, a group of citizens convened by The Telegraph last year as part of a project called Mission Possible listed crime among its top concerns – Amy’s pitch to do a story about where crime happens was given the green light. She launched her project during a year in which the number of homicides in Macon and Bibb were up significantly compared to the previous year. That spike, between 2006 and 2007, was explainable (the number of homicides in 2006 was particularly low), but the number was still attention-grabbing. Where crime happens and to whom seemed the right target for a closer examination.

What about crime downtown? Is it as bad as one sometimes hear? And what about the Macon Mall? Who among us hasn’t heard someone suggest the mall isn’t safe, especially after dark?

The stories published over the weekend won’t be the definitive word on crime in our region. Not even close. The reports by Amy Leigh and other staffers who joined her in this effort are based on crimes reported during a short window of time, either 2006 or 2007. This is truly a snapshot, but the findings are nonetheless interesting and insightful.

Amy Leigh’s efforts were focused largely on Bibb and Macon, but she also looked at statistics from Jones, Monroe, Baldwin and Laurens counties. Public safety reporter Becky Purser, who works in our Houston bureau, wrote about crime in Houston County, Warner Robins and Fort Valley, and Ashley Joyner, who covers the police beat at night from our Macon office, looked at the 2007 homicides, including the impact of homicide on a family of a victim.

We view this report as the start of a community conversation on crime. To that end, The Telegraph is partnering with Cox Channel 15, Mercer University and the Douglass Theatre to sponsor Tuesday night’s forum.

We hope you can join us in this conversation. If you can’t, send your questions to Amy Leigh Womack at awomack@macon.com.

Feel free to e-mail or call me as well at (smarshall@macon.com) or 478-744-4340.