A DeKalb County meeting on public safety in the Tucker area claimed that a recent police feasibility study left out key considerations that may make the formation of the city’s own department untenable.
The opinion was based on the data and insights DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, Interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick, and COO Zach Williams offered in the Nov. 20 meeting, which was hosted by Tucker Civic Association.
The DeKalb County officials shared details with about 30 residents and Tucker officials on current crime trends, future and current technology resolutions to crime, and plans to have more police staff and vehicles present to protect Tucker homes and businesses.
“My administration and the Board of Commissioners are committed to working hand in hand with the City of Tucker and its residents to ensure their public safety needs are met, and we expect continued improvements in response times and overall service delivery,” Cochran-Johnson said in a statement.
The presentation was a response to September’s Tucker-Northlake CID feasibility study, which estimated that a new police department for Tucker would cost around $15.9 million. The county presentation revealed “several oversights” that would make the cost significantly higher.
Williams noted, for instance, that the cost for pension benefits, which were not considered in the CID study, would run between $2 to $3.6 million depending on various factors like years of service. The county projects that housing allowances, also not included in the study, would total about $156,000 annually for the 26 Tucker precinct officers living in the city.
“Several oversights [in the CID study] significantly affect cost projections and undermine the accuracy of the data, including pension, retirement, training, recruitment, ammunition, mental health, housing allowances, ongoing technology investment, special service divisions, and more.” Cochran-Johnson said.
The CID study and the county findings aligned on the ongoing issues with emergency response times and concerning crime trends on Main Street and Juliette Road. Tucker’s total number of crimes increased slightly from 1075 from January to July of 2024 to 1,131 incidents for that same period in 2025.
“You guys have a problem with breaking and entering autos, burglaries on Juliette Road, and auto thefts,” Cochran-Johnson said during the meeting, adding that the Main Street corridor has had repeated instances of break-ins. “That is where we see the major crimes, and that is where we’re focusing major attention.”
The county invested $8 million in E-911 upgrades to provide state-of-the-art call-taking and dispatching, which has improved the county’s overall on-site call response times by more than 21 percent in eight months. The county is currently working on mobile units, a $2 million Real Time Crime Center, and digital surveillance that would add more than 300 cameras and drones across DeKalb County, including several planned for Tucker.
The advanced digital surveillance would be geared toward deterring criminals away from targeting Tucker businesses, Padrick told attendees at the meeting Thursday night. DeKalb County Police Department will also hire two community service aides, police staff who would address minor safety issues, in Tucker. The CSAs would address traffic accidents without injuries, stolen vehicle reports, and handle other non-life-threatening issues.
“We also use them for different events, traffic direction, road closures, things of that nature, where it doesn’t tie up an officer that can respond to a higher priority call,” Padrick said.
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Other public safety tactics DeKalb County Police Department will institute:
• Continue to deploy patrol units in historically high-crime areas identified on the hot spot maps, with special emphasis on the Juliette Road corridor for property crimes and Main Street for stolen vehicle incidents;
• Establish daily Community Service Aide patrol rotations in the Business District during business hours. Increase visibility by strategically parking county vehicles in front of businesses with lights activated for deterrence;
• Assign CSAs to take reports by phone, to help reduce pending call volume;
• Schedule strategic officer walk-throughs in retail centers, parks, and high-traffic public spaces to provide a visible deterrent and enhance community engagement;
• Place marked patrol cars (even unattended) in crime-prone areas as a deterrent.
Simone Paisley, a Tucker resident for more than 20 years, said she was pleased to hear that the county would be investing in technology to combat crime, along with adding the CSAs. Though she understands her neighbors’ desire for a department, the presentation helped her see the bigger picture.
“A city like Tucker cannot invest and continue to invest that money, not just in the technology, and the manpower. Once you have a police department, you have to continue those staff and you’re going to have attrition, you’re going to have people quit…I’m hoping that this was just the beginning of adding awareness.”