Buckhead Public Safety Update
Perspective
A note from Major Senzer
As we prepare to move into the summer months, we are continuing to address both serious crime and other issues related to our quality of life and safety in Zone Two. Since year-to-date crime rates tend to be skewed based on covid-related lockdowns and restrictions, I have leaned on 28-day period statistics to give me a more realistic and current picture of how we are tracking.
Part One Crime
The current 28-day charts show Zone Two Part One crime (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft) to be down five percent overall compared with the previous 28-day period.
Year-to-date Zone Two part one offenses are up 10 percent and auto theft is up thirty-one percent. It’s important to note that 60 percent of the autos taken this year were running and/or had the key fob inside of the vehicle at the time of theft. Larcenies from autos are up 18 percent YTD.
Although auto break-ins are up year to date, we have seen an improvement since the beginning of this year. Beginning in January, 60-70 car break-ins had been reported per week. In the last seven weeks, that number reduced below 40 every week, and below 30 for five of those weeks. Our Special Auto Larceny Team (SALT) continues to work with Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, and other zones to collaboratively combat the shared issue of auto larcenies.
This year we have had five homicides to date (compared to four at this time in 2020,) with four of the five occurring during the series of spa shootings in March.
Street Racing
Street Racing continues to be problematic throughout the City and Metro-Atlanta. APD conducts a weekly detail from Friday through Sunday which tracks activity, identifies gatherings, and attempts to intercede in events. Until this month, we haven’t seen the organized take-overs of intersections like we saw last year. However, we did respond to Northside and Mt. Paran to handle such a situation the first weekend of May. We are working to identify the vehicles’ registrations and match them to owners and operators. Additionally, we are retroactively looking to see if any of our targeted social media accounts showed meet-up spots that coincide with the activity that we experienced.
Water Dealers
We are continuing to address issues related to “Waterboys.” When we receive calls regarding street hustlers, we attempt to stop and identify these individuals. Depending on the circumstances, we will detain, cite, and in some cases, arrest individuals for violations of City and State laws. If they are juveniles, we will likely have to track down a parent or guardian and wait several hours to transfer custody. We are now looking to cite the parents for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Continued in the next column
Major Senzer's comments continued,
Restaurant & Club Violations
Restaurants and clubs have become epicenters of citizen complaints and Part one Crimes, many of which are suspected of operating outside of their licensed parameters. We are working with the License and Permits Unit to investigate and spot check locations on Pharr Road, Cheshire Bridge Road, Piedmont, Bennett Street and other locations. Our License and Permit Unit is overburdened with doing this work not only within Zone 2, but for the entire City. It is my belief that reform needs to occur with the entire L&P process for meaningful change to occur, to include:
Addressing the loopholes that allow restaurants to operate as nightclubs.
Restaurants should not be allowed to pour alcohol past 11pm
Special permits should be required to allow restaurants to pour as clubs, which should require club parameters to be met regarding distance to single family residences and parking requirements.
More mechanisms in place for accountability – not just APD
Probationary periods for new establishments
Revenue audits
The City is forming the Atlanta Alcohol Technical Advisory Group (ATAG) to address these potential reforms.
Finally, in addition to the new dedicated off-duty marked patrols, the BCID, in partnership with APD, has rolled out a new Bike Patrol. This has been well-received amongst the business communities, visitors and residents, and I believe it will be one of our most valuable crime-deterring tools.
As always, we implore all residents and visitors to maintain good situational awareness while they are conducting their personal and professional business. This includes remaining alert and vigilant to suspicious vehicles and persons, limiting distractions such as cell phone screen time while in public spaces, securing vehicles and ensuring that they keep key fobs on their persons and reporting suspicious activity and crimes to 911 as soon as they observe it.
Thank you for all of your continued support,
Major Andrew Senzer
Zone 2 Commander
*Major Senzer's comments were provided prior to the most recent crime statics shown below, therefore slight numerical differences may exist
A note from Jim Durrett and Dave Wilkinson
We hope this finds you well and safe. We are happy to provide another edition of this regular report on our efforts to ensure a safer Buckhead.
While we continue to face crime challenges, the last month has yielded actions and decisions with positive near-term and long-term public safety impacts, among them:
Chief Rodney Bryant’s designation as permanent Chief of Police
The One Atlanta, One APD Community Policing plan
Greater enforcement of anti-gang and street racing ordinances
Expansion of the Operation Shield camera surveillance system
Enhanced recruitment of APD officers
The mayor’s commitment to build the Public Safety Training Center
You can read more about these specific initiatives HERE.
Our number one priority at present is getting more officers on the streets in Zone 2 and across Atlanta. Our most critical initiative is to stem the current level of attrition within APD and fill the current 420 vacancies. APD and APF are focused on morale, retention, recruiting, hiring, and training. Therefore, the announcement of building the Public Safety Training Center is key to changing the trajectory of crime in our city. We encourage everyone to get behind this critical initiative
Below you will find details on crime updates, recent challenges and public safety solutions in Zone 2, as well as progress made against the Buckhead Security Plan. We have also identified opportunities to get involved in the future of our community’s short- and long-term public safety.
If you have not yet had an opportunity to read the Buckhead Security Plan, you can find the strategy HERE.
Please reach out to any of us with your ideas, thoughts and public safety concerns. Together we can forge solutions that will ensure Buckhead remains a thriving and safe community.
Sincerely,
Jim Durrett ~ President & CEO
The Buckhead Coalition
Dave Wilkinson ~ President & CEO
The Atlanta Police Foundation
The Buckhead Security Plan
The Buckhead Security Plan includes near-term and longer-term actions to increase the safety and security among the people who live in Buckhead, people who work in Buckhead, and people who visit Buckhead on business, for shopping, and for entertainment. Key actions include:
Develop a strategic Buckhead Operation Shield grid that includes a concentration of Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) cameras and License Plate Readers (LPRs) to cover all major travel corridors and intersections
Status: In progress – strategic grid is developed and cameras are being permitted and installed. Since inception of the plan, fourteen license plate reader cameras and fourteen street surveillance cameras have been added to Buckhead neighborhoods. Twenty two additional devices have cleared the permitting phase and will erected in the near future.
Fund and promote a more robust Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta program to yield more information about crimes and criminals that leads to quicker arrests. Crime Stoppers uses anonymous tips to help solve crimes throughout the Metro Atlanta area
Status: In progress – We implemented new billboard placements across Buckhead advertising the program. You can find the latest CSGA stats below and images from the new advertising campaign HERE.
Expand and increase coordination between existing supplemental security patrols, within the commercial and residential areas of Buckhead
Status: In progress – Three supplemental patrols are operating now within the Buckhead Community Improvement District. Additional new patrol vehicles have been ordered to expand supplemental patrols into other commercial and residential areas of Buckhead. A coordinated and comprehensive supplemental patrol is expected to drive crime out of Buckhead as opposed to providing opportunities for it to linger within the zone.
Promote a clean car campaign as needed to meet the current conditions in Buckhead
Status: In Progress; This program has been rolled out in coordination with building managers in Buckhead. Programmatic evaluation continues as thefts from auto's have decreased in recent weeks. The BCID supplemental bike patrol continues to push the clean car campaign message and its impact is being seen.
Increase Buckhead community support for the hiring, training and retention of officers to achieve a full force at APD
Status: In Progress; the Mayor has committed to doing this after hearing calls to do so.
Work with landlords with problematic tenants to address property use that leads to illegal activity and public disturbance
Status: In Progress; working with owners, APD, members of City Council. A new ordinance was signed by the Mayor to further address this. The Atlanta Alcohol Technical Advisory Group has been formed to address related issues within restaurants and clubs throughout the city.
Enforce the noise ordinance, and/or determine what needs to be changed to better enable enforcement
Status: In Progress – The Atlanta Alcohol Technical Advisory Group has been formed to address related issues within restaurants and clubs throughout the city.
Work with the court system to address repeat offender sentencing
Status: In Progress. Fulton Country courts are just beginning to return to normalcy, but the impact from being shut down by the pandemic will linger for some time. The courts will prioritize the backlog of cases; however, the Atlanta Police Foundation will continue to scrutinize the relationship between these soon to be prosecuted cases and their relationship to repeat offenders.
Progress
Operation Shield
Operation Shield, Atlanta's integrated camera program, continues to grow in Buckhead and throughout the city. These cameras and license plate readers provide critical police support and make our streets, parking lots and neighborhoods safer.
Prior to the plan’s implementation, more than 300 devices already existed throughout Buckhead/
28 new Operation Shield devices have been funded and installed in accordance with the Buckhead Security Plan. Those new devices will be online by the end of May 2021 and 22 more devices are now in the permitting stage. Those additional cameras will be active by the end of the summer.
To contribute funds to purchase and maintain public cameras, click HERE.
Crime Stoppers
We have recently partnered with Outfront Media to place a six-month campaign of billboards and other outdoor advertising throughout Buckhead to promote the Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta Program. We hope the advertising will encourage both Crime Stoppers donations and crime tips from the public that will further help APD solve some of the outstanding cases in Zone Two.
Most recently, CSGA tips have been instrumental in the investigations of shootings that occurred in an apartment complex near Sydney Marcus and Piedmont Road as well as the Home Depot across the street.
Program has assisted in 1659 arrests
Program has helped clear 2186 cases
Judicial Review
Repeat offenders are responsible for more than 50% of part one (violent) crimes in Atlanta.
APF tracks and reports on the judicial sentencing of these repeat offenders in order to create transparency and accountability among the judges working within our complex state and local court system.
APF distributes a repeat offender report to create transparency and accountability among judges working within the Fulton County criminal justice system.
This report is distributed on an annual basis and details the adjudicated cases of repeat offenders by Fulton County Superior Court judges.
APF’s 2019 report is available HERE. The 2020 report will be available in the next edition.
News & Notes
APD Staffing
Police officer:
MORALE, RETENTION, RECRUITMENT, HIRING & TRAINING are CRUCIAL!
The Atlanta Police Force is authorized to have 2,046 officers
Attrition has thinned the ranks to 1,626, a shortfall of 420 officers
APF has joined APD to create a robust recruitment strategy to hire some 250 officers per year
APD's One Atlanta One APD Plan includes a robust recruiting strategy to hire more than 250 officers per year and build a state of the art public safety training center.
Buckhead Crimes of Interest
Suspect arrested after attempting to rape a woman on May 20th in the Garden Hills neighborhood.
Celebrity music artist Akon had his vehicle stolen from a Buckhead gas station after leaving it unattended and running on May 24th.
APD’s latest 2021 homicides graph shows Zone 2 homicides in comparison to other zones throughout Atlanta. Four of the five homicides in Zone 2 occurred during the spa shootings in March
Officer Neighborhood Housing
Livable Buckhead has received and approved the first three applications for the Buckhead housing subsidy program. These officers will play an important role in neighborhood safety, simply through their presence in the community. By offering monthly subsidies and partnering with residential property managers and landlords, the Buckhead officer housing program offsets the cost of housing in Buckhead and makes it easier for officers to live among those they serve.
A limited number of
$650 monthly subsidies are available. Visit HERE for details.
Buckhead Crime Statistics
2/28/2021 - 5/22/2021
Murder - 8
Rape - 19
Robbery - 25
Aggravated assault - 106
Burglary – 63
Larceny from auto - 477
Larceny other - 375
Auto theft - 189
Click HERE to see the latest city-wide and Zone 2 crime statistics
Spotlight
Soon To Come
Public Safety First: Mayoral Election Series
The decision by Mayor Bottoms to forgo reelection has accelerated the 2021 Atlanta mayoral campaign, prompting maneuvering by prospective candidates and an effort to define their positions on the issues.
To ensure that the community engages in the well-informed debate over public safety it deserves, the Atlanta Police Foundation is launching an issues campaign dubbed Public Safety First, to run concurrently during the mayoral election. APF is non-partisan, but as in past mayoral campaigns, we will endeavor to inform voters, educate candidates, and promote community discussions across the variety of public safety and law enforcement issues that will assuredly be central to citizen concerns as they choose among candidates vying to be Atlanta’s 61st mayor.
The series will include:
A City-focused forum hosted by the Atlanta Security Council that will focus on crime its causes and prospective solutions from a macro perspective
A series of community panel discussions that will explore crime issues specific to each area of the City including the Northside/Buckhead
Finally, in September, APF will host the Public Safety Mayoral Debate, which will be televised live.
Supplemental Security Patrol
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE BUCKHEAD SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY PATROL
BSP directed APD Zone two patrol to deter street racers performing donuts in the Publix Plaza on Peachtree Road.
BSP apprehended male attempting to break into cars
BSP assisted Zone Two officer in apprehending and notified US Secret Service of a drunk male trying to pay with fake cash. Upon further investigation it was discovered he had more than $20,000 in fake bills on his person.
BSP provided visual police presence along Pharr Road with specific attention to the Chevron gas station in order to deter slider crimes, vehicle break-ins and other criminal activity.
BSP provided visual police presence in front of Red Martini, The Hole in the Wall as patrons exited the establishments and deter disputes and other criminal activity.
BSP directed patrol on Pharr Road to prevent street racing, violent crimes, fights, etc.
BSP stopped at Club Lucca after being flagged down by concerned citizens and club security and arrested a violent suspect threatening patrons as they were exiting the club.
BSP addressed a male trespassing in the courtyard of a Buckhead hotel who was refusing to leave and threatening to “shoot the place up.” BSP convinced the man to leave and stayed until Zone Two patrol arrived on scene.