Atlanta Police Zone 2 in 2011 leads the city with the largest percentage drop in crime when compared to the same period last year, a precinct commander told Buckhead residents on Oct. 4.
Overall, crime is down 12 percent in Zone 2, according to Atlanta Police Major Robert L. Browning. The precinct commander cited the statistic at a Neighborhood Planning Unit C meeting at Trinity Presbyterian Church on Howell Mill Road.
Browning was one of the featured speakers at the event, which also included presentations on the city’s efforts to combat graffiti as well as challenge the 2010 Census results for Atlanta, which officials believe significantly undercounted the city’s population.
Browning was referring to crime statistics published on the Atlanta Police Department’s website that show a drop in the number of “Part 1” offenses reported between the first three quarters of 2010 and the same period this year.
Part 1 offenses, which the FBI uses to track fluctuations in crime rates, include murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
The crime drop in Zone 2 tracks a national trend that some experts have found puzzling. It is a long-held axiom that a bad economy produces higher crime rates. However, nationwide crime rates, which began falling long before the Great Recession, have continued to decline in recent years.
Some residents attending the meeting said they were skeptical about the reported drop in crime.
“I have a hard time believing that crime is down around here,” said Peachtree Battle-area resident Beth Beskin. “Crime only goes down until it happens to you.”
The local statistics show that crime did increase in Zones 1, 3 and 5 by between 3 percent and 6 percent and declined in the even numbered zones.
Between January and October, crimes recorded in Zones 4 and 6 dropped by 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively, from the same period of 2010. Citywide, the crime rate remained unchanged when comparing the first nine months of 2010 and 2011.
In Zone 2 the drop in crime has been driven by a decline in property crimes so far in 2011. Larcenies, auto thefts and burglaries are all down, while violent crimes, excluding murder, have risen.
Despite the decline in thefts and burglaries, Browning told members of NPU-C to remain vigilant in looking out for suspicious activity in their neighborhoods, particularly door-to-door solicitations.
“Anyone who comes to your door, we need to know about it,” Browning said. “… Nine times out of 10 they are shopping to see what’s behind your door.”
Browning’s remarks were followed by an announcement by Atlanta Police Officer Ari Bleifeld that seven vandals had been arrested for spraying graffiti on private and public properties across the city.
Bleifeld, who is a member of Mayor Kasim Reed’s anti-graffiti task force, said the graffiti artists are responsible for damaging 800 structures.
“It’s a widespread problem,” said Bleifeld of the rash of graffiti. “It’s a subculture that a lot of young people get caught up in.” He said Atlanta’s graffiti artists tend to be young white males, “predominantly in their mid to late teens.”
Several residents attending the meeting complained about graffiti emblazoned on the Collier Road Bridge in Tanyard Creek Park. Bleifeld stressed the importance of obliterating the illegal art quickly to dissuade “taggers” from delusions of fame.
Also appearing at the NPU meeting was Jewelle Kennedy, a city of Atlanta urban planner, who told the audience that the city plans to challenge the U.S. Census Bureau’s population count for the city.According to the Census, Atlanta’s population is 420,003, up 3,539 from a decade ago, but 120,919 fewer than the estimate set by the agency in 2009. At stake for the city is millions of dollars in federal funding tied to population that would be lost if the current count stands, said Kennedy. According to the U.S. Census, the population of NPU-C grew by 1,923 between 2000 and 2010. The population is now 18,122 people.