What’s behind Augusta’s alarming problem with violent crime?
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - For months, the news has been peppered with shooting after shooting in Richmond County.
And everyday people in everyday places are becoming victims.
On Thursday, a person was killed in a shooting there in 2020.
The mall shooting comes just a few weeks after gunfire erupted on a crowded downtown sidewalk, setting off panic among bar customers.
The CSRA has been caught up in an outbreak of violence that’s claimed more than 170 lives in the past two years.
What’s behind all of this?
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division tells us gang violence is the root of almost all violent crime here.
It’s the reason bank fraud and car break-ins happen, too, officers tell us.
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Underneath that crime is the drug and gun situation happening in Richmond County, which is helping drive that activity – or at least going hand-in-hand with it.
It’s a steep fight for investigators year after year.
Hundreds of pounds of drugs, hundreds of guns and millions in cash were found in neighborhoods across Richmond County.
Investigators are tracking just how much cash, drugs and guns are seized during search warrants.
Data kept by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office tells the story of what law enforcement is up against.
The Special Operations Division started tracking these numbers in 2018.
We’ve gathered all the data the deputies have collected – including search warrants, pills confiscated, a breakdown of every drug type found for the year, guns, money and gang cases.
From 2018 to May 2024, the sheriff’s office has seized $4,348,817 from search warrants alone. That also includes at least 1,152 guns and 226 vehicles.
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Over the course of the past six years, there have been more than 2,500 arrests and nearly 2,000 felony cases.
As for the drugs seized, since 2021 when they began tracking fentanyl seizures, 39 pounds have been recovered.
Since 2021, that number has increased dramatically.
The total doubled from 2022 to 2023, and this year, it’s on track to increase again.
Since 2018, investigators took more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana, 166 pounds of meth, 166 pounds of cocaine, and nearly 6,000 oxycodone pills.
All of this is found in Richmond County, as law enforcement works to crack down on drugs and gun violence in the community.
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