The Greensboro Police Department (GPD) held its first public community safety meeting of the year with East Greensboro residents on Monday, January 13 at the Barber Park Event Center.
The meeting is a series of planned meetings where residents and law enforcement officers collaborate and discuss ways to reduce crime and make the city’s neighborhoods safer for everyone. Since his start as Greensboro Police Chief in 2022, Chief John Thompson has made quarterly community public safety meetings a primary focus of the department to help build bonds and discuss the issues with area residents.
To a packed room of more than 60 residents, Chief Thompson opened the meeting by discussing the tragic death of Greensboro Police Officer Michael Horan, who was killed while working security at a local grocery store two days before Christmas. Horan’s homicide was followed by six homicides in the first two weeks of 2025.
Homicides in Greensboro decreased in 2024 with 42 homicides, down from 74 in 2023. There have already been six homicides since the beginning of 2025. Thompson shared that the age range committing the highest number of violent crimes in Greensboro consists of people aged 19 to 30 years old.
“Here is my ask to you as a community: what can we do better as a police department?” asked Thompson. “I don’t believe there’s a community that can address it alone, but together as a partnership and collaboration, working together, I do think we can be successful in addressing violent crime.”
Thompson noted that the city’s Office of Community Safety and the Greensboro Police Department’s collaboration with community-based organizations to help foster relationships has been key to addressing violence.
In December 2024, Chief Thompson and Latisha McNeil, Director of the Greensboro Office of Community Safety, visited the White House as part of a presentation to the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to discuss the success of community safety strategies that have been utilized to reduce violent crime. They presented alongside representatives from Philadelphia and Chicago.
Thompson pointed out that staffing at the police department has been a priority over the last year. Out of 651 sworn officer positions and 121 professional staff members, he noted that there are currently 12 vacancies in the department. He hopes to be able to add 30 more sworn police officers to the force.
“The challenge is how do we get those officers into the community for enough time to really build those relationships,” he said.
The chief answered questions from about 15 community members, who were provided two minutes to speak about updates on staffing, police ride-a-longs, data collection, and suggestions on what residents want the police to do.
“To me, building a relationship with the community is an excellent start. We can’t trust each other if we don’t know each other,” said Paula Ritter-Lipscomb, a Greensboro resident.
A few residents, like James Basnight, president of the Randleman Road Community Association, shared concerns and suggestions on engaging young people. Basnight put out a call to action for the community to create a citizen-led board to develop youth programs, like basketball games, banquets, and educational field trips to help reduce crime.
“My question to the community, are you ready to get off the sidelines? Might I suggest that the community establish a committee that will develop youth programs,” said Basnight.
In response, Thompson touted the GPD Summer Youth Employment Program as one of the things the police department is doing to reach out to the youth.
Based on a GPD survey hosted by an online survey platform called Zencity, traffic concerns ranked highest, followed by theft and burglary, noise, and violent crimes. Statistics for 2024 show a 40 percent increase in domestic violence, while property crime was down 10 percent.
“Trust your gut,” said Thompson. “If something doesn’t feel right, call us.”
Residents can report crimes anonymously through the Crime Stoppers program at www.ggcrimestoppers.com.
The Next Public Safety Meeting Dates:
Thursday, January 16
Brown Recreation Center – 6:30 p.m.
302 E. Vandalia Road, Greensboro
Tuesday, January 21
Presbyterian Church of the Cross – 6:30 p.m.
1810 Phillips Ave., Greensboro
Tuesday, January 28
Guilford Park Presbyterian Church – 6:30 p.m.
2100 Fernwood Drive, Greensboro