ALBANY, Ga (WALB) — Albany recorded 23 homicides in 2025 — a 35% increase over the previous year’s total of 17. Albany Police Chief Michael Persley told city commissioners in Tuesday’s meeting that the trend shows why the city needs a new system to track repeat offenders.

Persley informed commissioners of a Repeat Offender Initiative (ROI) that will launch in 2026. ROI program would allow police, prosecutors and judges to share information about defendants’ criminal histories.

“We’ve assigned officers who will work day-to-day. They’re researching to identify who all are repeat offenders,” Persley said. “And when these individuals go to jail they will present that information to the court.”

Violence in Albany

According to the police department’s annual report, the city reported over 600 violent crimes in 2024. Those crimes include murder, assault battery, armed robbery, kidnapping and manslaughter.

WALB calculated over 500 violent crimes occurred between January and November in 2025, based on APD’s monthly reports. The December report is not available at this time.

Understanding Repeat Offenders

According to Georgia law, a repeat offender is an individual with three prior convictions. The state’s recidivist statue requires harsher penalties, including:

• A maximum prison sentence as set out in statue for second felony offenses
• The “Three Strikes Rule” which mandates life in prison without parole for serious violent offenses

Pattern of Repeat Offenses in Albany

APD cited 21-year-old Daveyon Wakefield as an example of a frequent offender. Court documents revealed Wakefield was arrested four times between January 2022 and April 2024 on felony charges including aggravated assault, theft and illegal weapons possession.

Court records show he was released on bond after each arrest. In one case, he was initially denied bail but was later granted bond and placed on house arrest.

Wakefield was killed in July 2024. Charges from his 2023 and 2024 arrests were later dismissed because of his death.

“We can’t deny you from having a bond. So when you’re bonded out with the repeat offender initiative. We will monitor those people,” Captain Terrence Whitlock said. “If you have committed a violent offense and/or you have been a victim of gun violence, we will try to intervene so that you will not become a victim again and/or you will not go back to jail.”

How the Program Would Work

Chief Persley said Albany will model its program after Atlanta’s Repeat Offender Tracking Initiative. Atlanta’s program involves the police, the district attorney’s office, the sheriff’s office, and probation officials. All parties share access to a database tracking repeat offenders’ arrest history. Everyone involved in a case would know the defendant’s full criminal history.

Chief Persley said several APD officers have been trained by Atlanta police as the department prepares to launch the program in Albany.

Community Involvement

Resident will be able to participate in the program, through the support of Court Watch. Individuals can volunteer to be trained to monitor bond and arraignment hearings. They will report information to the Dougherty County’s District Attorney’s Office. These trained volunteers will track whether offenders were released on bond or remain in jail prior to their trial.

“There are some people who are intent on causing harm and havoc in our community,” Chief Persley said. “When those people are identified, what information do the Court Watch people gather from that. Is it useful information we can use?”

Public Safety Meeting

Chief Persley said combating the crime in Albany will be a process. He said he’s hopeful but ‘hope demands action.’ That action is the Repeat Offender Initiative.

Persley invited anyone who wants to learn more about initiative, to come to the public safety committee meeting January 27.

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