Crime & Safety

Police, Neighborhood Leaders Hold Crime Summit to Discuss Strategies, Areas for Improvement

DECATUR — Following a rash of crimes that have plagued Southeast Atlanta neighborhoods, unincorporated DeKalb and the city of Decatur, law enforcement leaders met last week to share best practices and identify areas for improvement.

The summit was called by Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, whose District 5 includes East Atlanta, Lake Claire, Kirkwood and Edgewood and DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson, whose district includes the unincorporated Gresham Park area.

Archibong and Johnson told East Atlanta Patch the summit was designed to focus on those areas that needed improvement, identify cross-jurisdictional red tape and to impress upon the police leaders constituent frustrations in the wake of carjackings, shootings and armed robberies.

Among the concerns she shared was how much cooperation exists between departments, particularly in those Atlanta neighborhoods that are in the city limits, but fall in DeKalb County, including East Atlanta.

"Sometimes there are situations where a neighbor will see a DeKalb County police officer," she said, noting they often eat in East Atlanta Village. "And they will have noticed something that is criminal in their mind and they'll approach the DeKalb County officer and the answer is, 'call APD, call 911.' "

Maj. Keith Meadows, who heads Atlanta Police Department Zone 6, which includes East Atlanta, Inman Park, Candler Park and Grant Park, said he would like to see more cross-cooperation between APD and DeKalb particularly when dealing directly with residents.

That's especially true, he said because sometimes calls to 911 get dropped and at times, when people call the emergency system, their need for help can get jammed up because of discussions over whose jurisdiction it falls.

"The citizens couldn't care less, they really don't care" he said of the border question. He said he'd like to see the departments expand opportunities for joint efforts on a regular basis, such as checkpoints.

"I think we have some common interests as it relates to crime," Meadows said.

Indeed, some criminals often cross DeKalb and into the city limits and vice versa and there isn't a quick method to alert each department's counterpart agency.

For example, Valencia Hudson, who is public safety liaison for Archibong's office, noted an East Lake homeowner recently snapped pictures of an alleged burglar who, after leaving the burglarized home, crossed over into DeKalb.

"We didn't have a way to get to you guys," she said.

They also shared best practices, such as getting DeKalb's South Precinct, which includes Gresham Park and Eastland Heights, to develop a database of known criminal offenders and where they live, and patterns of crime to which they might be linked.

That's something Zone 6 already does. and offered to help DeKalb do the same.

To hear more excerpts of the summit, please click on the attached video.


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