Macon Police Chief and Council President Debate Priorities | News

"What's killing our city to me more than DUI is copper and metal thefts," said Macon City Council President James Timley.

 Strong statements from Timley took over part of the Public Safety committee meeting Monday. During the meeting, Police Chief Mike Burns presented the city's 2011 crime statistics and said last year's increase was due to thefts.

That led Timley to question why Burns has more officers on his DUI Task Force than fighting metal thefts.

"To me, the biggest problem in the city would be metal and copper thefts because it's killing our economy," said Timley.

He says Macon Police should work to dedicate more manpower to fighting such crimes.

Police Chief Mike Burns debated that statement saying, DUIs kill more people and cause more monetary damage than any crime. He says he's seen the effects first hand.

"I used to be a traffic fatality investigator, so I know what a DUI driver can do to people and to themselves at it was trying to be compared to people stealing copper. I think it's just like comparing apples to oranges, should have been two separate conversations," said Burns.

Burns says he and his investigators are doing what's best for the city with the resources they have.

"We have two investigators assigned to copper thefts but we actually have 16 that actually investigate. There are just two that check on scrap metal dealers and make sure that state laws and city ordinances are followed."

Chief Burns says the police department has four officers dedicated to the DUI task force.

He also says there was an increase in residential burglaries. That's another major focus for the department this year.