AUGUSTA, Ga. ()- Richmond County Sheriff Eugene Brantley has successfully completed his inaugural year in office.

The crime statistics from 2025 paint a promising picture for the Sheriff’s Office under Brantley’s leadership.

Data from 2025 highlights a noteworthy decline in criminal activity, a reduction in traffic fatalities, and overall positive developments within the Sheriff’s Office.

“I believe we’ve established a solid foundation that will allow us to enhance our efforts in the coming year,” stated Sheriff Eugene Brantley.

The Criminal Intelligence Division has reported a remarkable 29 percent drop in Part 1 crimes, which include serious offenses such as homicide, auto theft, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Data also shows a 43 percent drop in traffic deaths, one of the most notable improvements in recent years. 

“This past year, we wrote a little over 33,000 traffic citations. I feel that that alone helped slow the drivers down. Enforcing the law is not always about writing citations and locking people up—it’s about gaining compliance,” Brantley said.

The Sheriff’s Office secured $10 million in federal grants, and hired more than 70 certified deputies—with 18 cadets currently in the Georgia Police Academy.

Sheriff Brantley says he wants to continue to engage with the youth, and find ways to get young people excited to join local law enforcement. 

“This profession has lost a lot of its glamor. A lot of people are not wanting to be police officers now because of some of the things that transpired in the past. So, it’s exciting to see younger people wanting to get back involved in law enforcement,” he added.

He says the solution is reaching young people of all ages.

“When we visit schools, the younger they are, the more excited they are to see the police and firemen, and want to be a police officer and firefighter. The older they get, they lost that desire to be in law enforcement. So, seeing that we are now getting younger people back involved and wanting to come into this profession is good,” the Sheriff said.

Maintenance and infrastructure has been improved at the Webster Detention Center.

But another focus for the Sheriff is to address the overcrowding problem—he says it comes down to being proactive in the community. 

“There’s not just one simple fix. But, we can proactively keep people from committing acts of violence and crimes that cause them to come to jail because we’re being proactive. The proactive approach for us is what we’re ultimately trying to do to clean up our streets and neighborhoods,” said Brantley.

This past year they also established the Homeless Outreach Team, or HOT Team, to help with the homeless problem Augusta is facing.

The Sheriff says it’s another priority for 2026 to clean up homeless encampments, and help reunite homeless people with their families.