Columbus Police Chief Stoney Mathis and his command staff presented city council with the latest crime data for the city and there was nothing but good news. Chief Mathis began his presentation by showing off awards of recognition for the department including the FBI’s Agency of the Year award.
“It’s just very humbling that I get to receive these awards on behalf of the police officers and men and women that actually do the work because I assure you it’s not Stoney Mathis out there handling calls at 2 or 3 in the morning getting guns put in my face, getting spit on, cussed at, yelled at and still have to use dignity to the people even if you have to arrest them that we are treating them with the utmost respect,” Mathis said.
January marked the first time in a decade the police department didn’t report a single homicide. By comparison there were 64 murders in 2021 and 27 murders in 2025, the lowest number for murder in six or seven years. Columbus had a 51% clearance rate in Part 1 crimes last year. The national average is 17.4%. The city saw the biggest decrease in aggravated assault cases. There is also a 60% reduction in theft by taking motor vehicles this year.
“The numbers only tell part of the story. The true story lies with the police officers and the men and women that work these calls on a daily basis. Love the Sheriff’s department but the Sheriff’s department are not handling 9-1-1 calls. It’s the police officers you see in blue that handle 9-1-1 calls and those calls could range from a gunshot to dog barking you just never know,” Chief Mathis said.
Recruitment and retention have also improved at the Columbus Police Department under the leadership of Stoney Mathis. In 2021 there were 141 vacancies in the department. In December of 2025 the number of vacancies dwindled to 23. There is a direct correlation between staffing and police response times according to the presentation. The response time went from 18 minutes in 2023 to 7 minutes in 2025.
“My goal since I walked into the Columbus Police Department is we cannot arrest our way out of this problem and we can’t write citations to get ourselves out of this problem. The key to it is building relationships and that’s why my community relations and cops unit do such a wonderful job and as a matter of fact over the next few weeks, you’re gonna find that one of my police officers is being recognized regionally as a Person of the Year for the work that they’ve done in the community. So not only are we enforcing the law we’re also building relationships,” Chief Mathis said.
Councilor Glenn Davis called the report a “Wow moment”. “That is one incredible report,” Davis said. Former police officer and current city councilor Byron Hickey said, “this is a great moment, and we need to keep it going…I hope we can convince you to stay longer.” Chief Mathis has previously stated he plans to leave at the end of his contract this year.
