How Safe Do You Feel Regarding Crime?

Crimewise, it looks to be a long, hot summer.

One of the biggest concerns we've heard from East Atlanta Patch readers this year, other than Atlanta's public school redistricting, has been about crime.

None of our Patch neighborhoods have been immune:

• There have been armed robberies in , , and .
• There was the at the Trestletree Village Apartments in Ormewood Park and at the Starlight Six Drive-in.
• There have been attempted kidnappings in and .
• And there have been several carjackings in , and .

Just Wednesday night, a resident of the MillTown Lofts in Reynoldstown, site of earlier carjacking attempts, was carjacked at gunpoint by three men.

Aggravated assaults are up citywide: There have been 1,144 reported through June 9, an increase of 7.02 percent over last year's comparable period, Atlanta Police Department stats show.

But the three APD zones that cover East Atlanta Patch neighborhoods exceed the citywide average for that same period:

• Zone 3 (includes Summerhill, Peoplestown, Chosewood Park): 304 incidents, up 7.04 percent
• (includes Downtown, Georgia State University area): 102 incidents, up 24.39 percent
• (includes East Atlanta, Candler Park, Ormewood Park, Kirkwood, Old Fourth Ward, Grant Park): 128 incidents, up 26.73 percent

Police have been going to community meetings, giving people updates on some of the most serious crimes and recent incidents.

If its any consolation, residents of Zone 6 can take some comfort in knowing that staffing is on the increase.

A little more than a dozen officers have asked to come to Zone 6, Officer Garrett Eastridge told residents of Candler Park Monday at that neighborhood's monthly meeting.

That should help in stemming some of the problems Zone 6 neighborhoods have experienced.

For example, vagrants in Freedom Park have been a problem and in recent weeks, APD has made some 40 arrests there, he said.

How safe do you feel or how fearful are you? Do you think our part of the city is under a crime wave or are these incidents an unfortunate anomaly? Have you changed or altered your daily routine?