Gwinnett Daily Post

Special Photo At a Friday banquet to honor the Duluth Police Department's top officers and employees, like those shown above, Chief Randy Belcher announced his city had the county's lowest crime rate in 2012.

DULUTH -- Duluth's police chief said recently that his city had Gwinnett's lowest crime rate in 2012.

At a Friday banquet held to honor the Duluth Police Department's top officers and employees, Chief Randy Belcher reportedly announced that Duluth had "reclaimed the title of lowest crime rate in Gwinnett County," according to a news release.

"The city had held this designation for many years," the release said, "but had dropped from the top in 2010 and 2011."

It was unclear Monday how those statistics were calculated, or what crimes were factored in.

During the banquet -- headed up by Anna Huthmaker of Huthmaker Violins -- several members of the department were honored:

-- Officer Donnie Diggs, officer of the year

-- Cpl. Randy Bassett, "top gun" award for marksmanship

-- Cpl. Ingrid Smith, supervisor of the year

-- Tony Carr, civilian employee of the year