GRANT PARK — In response to a slew of recent residential burglaries, armed robberies and at least one shooting, DeKalb County's top cop pledged a "surge" of 20 to 25 police officers will be reassigned to the unincorporated areas of the county.
Police Chief Cedric L. Alexander made the promise Wednesday night at a meeting of residents from several Atlanta neighborhoods and unincorporated DeKalb.
The reassignments became effective that evening, he said.
"We know how it feels to be invaded," Alexander told the standing-room-only crowd gathered in Zoo Atlanta's ARC Auditorium.
"You're going to see a lot higher visibility," he continued to applause. How long the surge will last, Alexander didn't specify.
"We're were going to try to sustain as much of that as long as we can," he said.
The change follows an uptick in crime in the unincorporated South DeKalb neighborhoods of Gresham Park, Eastland Heights, Piney Grove and Parkview.
But it also follows a number of complaints about DeKalb County police response to crimes in those communities, ranging from officers disputing residents' claims that they don't live in the Atlanta city limits to them not showing up at all or appearing to be annoyed with crime victims when they do.
The grievances were such that last week, Assistant Police Chief Dale A. Holmes told East Atlanta Patch he wanted DeKalb residents to contact him directly to share concerns.
The county isn't alone, of course in dealing with the crime; Atlanta and Decatur residents have seen spike of violent events, too.
The Atlanta Police Department stepped up its patrols in Southeast Atlanta neighborhoods after the May 25 shooting death of Patrick Cotrona. The East Atlanta homeowner was gunned down during a robbery as he and two friends walked toward a bar in the Village.
Despite that, violent crimes have continued, including the July 2 daytime shooting of a woman in Kirkwood while she walked her dog. On Sunday an East Atlanta man was robbed as he
Alexander said DeKalb and Atlanta police departments are working in tandem to solve crimes that cross their jurisdictions, noting the July 4 arrest of four men in DeKalb who also are suspected in a number of crimes in East Atlanta.
Last week, Atlanta, DeKalb and Decatur police held a crime summit with Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong and DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson to see what tools fostered cross-jurisdictional crime solving and what stymied those efforts.
Police Chief Cedric L. Alexander made the promise Wednesday night at a meeting of residents from several Atlanta neighborhoods and unincorporated DeKalb.
The reassignments became effective that evening, he said.
"We know how it feels to be invaded," Alexander told the standing-room-only crowd gathered in Zoo Atlanta's ARC Auditorium.
"You're going to see a lot higher visibility," he continued to applause. How long the surge will last, Alexander didn't specify.
"We're were going to try to sustain as much of that as long as we can," he said.
The change follows an uptick in crime in the unincorporated South DeKalb neighborhoods of Gresham Park, Eastland Heights, Piney Grove and Parkview.
But it also follows a number of complaints about DeKalb County police response to crimes in those communities, ranging from officers disputing residents' claims that they don't live in the Atlanta city limits to them not showing up at all or appearing to be annoyed with crime victims when they do.
The grievances were such that last week, Assistant Police Chief Dale A. Holmes told East Atlanta Patch he wanted DeKalb residents to contact him directly to share concerns.
The county isn't alone, of course in dealing with the crime; Atlanta and Decatur residents have seen spike of violent events, too.
The Atlanta Police Department stepped up its patrols in Southeast Atlanta neighborhoods after the May 25 shooting death of Patrick Cotrona. The East Atlanta homeowner was gunned down during a robbery as he and two friends walked toward a bar in the Village.
Despite that, violent crimes have continued, including the July 2 daytime shooting of a woman in Kirkwood while she walked her dog. On Sunday an East Atlanta man was robbed as he
Alexander said DeKalb and Atlanta police departments are working in tandem to solve crimes that cross their jurisdictions, noting the July 4 arrest of four men in DeKalb who also are suspected in a number of crimes in East Atlanta.
Last week, Atlanta, DeKalb and Decatur police held a crime summit with Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong and DeKalb Commissioner Larry Johnson to see what tools fostered cross-jurisdictional crime solving and what stymied those efforts.
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