Crime in the ATL Drops 19%

And it dropped crime without Draconian police tactics like Giuliani-era New York. Take that, critics of Democratic controlled cities.

From AJC:

Atlanta is once again on the defensive, trying to dispel the perception that its downtown is rife with crime.

The effort comes as the city's Police Department prepares to announce today that major crime in Atlanta overall — murder, armed robbery, rape, burglary and larceny — dropped 12 percent last year. Crime in the downtown area declined 19 percent last year from 2003.

"It's time that people's perception of crime in downtown gets replaced with facts and the truth," said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. "The folklore needs to go."

Seriously, this is great news, and as the article points out, Atlanta certainly has not been a bastion of public safety.