We Demand Action Against Crime In Atlanta

Gov. Nathan Deal

Office of the Governor                                    

206 Washington Street                                                            

111 State Capitol                                                              

Atlanta, Georgia 30334                                                       

Phone: 404-656-1776                                                           

Fax : 404-657-7332

Governor Deal,

We have sent you this letter to express our disappointment in the way our leadership has handled the increase of violent and nonviolent crime in the city. We are a large group of concerned citizens united in this effort. We are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, neighbors and law-abiding taxpayers who demand to see quantifiable results from our leadership.

We have complained to many city officials including Mayor Reed, who responded by blocking people via Twitter, Facebook and emails. Many other city officials have indicated their hands are tied, in response to our legitimate complaints.

You will be receiving many letters like this that will include our personal experiences and complaints. We feel unsafe in this beautiful city full of diversity, entrepreneurship, and flourishing multicultural businesses. We demand leadership at this time.

Thank you for your understanding,                                  

Concerned Citizens United

These are our concerns that we feel should be your top priority.

• Enforcement of laws regarding ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles. The current directive to law enforcement from the police chief and mayor is not to engage them in any way. Change the directive and enforce the law. The riders are most active on Thursday and Sunday nights. (They ride weekly on Thursday nights on Peachtree Road in Buckhead and congregate at Fellini’s. Consistently a danger at Perkerson Park, as well as on Moreland Avenue in DeKalb County and Donald Lee Hallowell Pkwy in Fulton County where the bike club known as “The Renegades” is located.) Despite ongoing news coverage and citizen complaints, nothing has been done.

• Increase the size and scope of The Gangs Squad so that it can be effective. As it stands, the number of gangs has increased dramatically and subsequently activity is on the rise. This issue is the genesis of the uptick in crimes, many of which are violent.

• Create a classification for carjackings and specify the exact number of car break-ins in the crime stats. Carjackings have significantly increased, particularly at gas stations. They need to be tracked separately as they are currently buried in reporting that does not reflect the increase of criminal activity in Atlanta. Car break-ins are also underreported. If there are multiple break-ins of cars in the same location, this is only recorded as one crime at a location, rather than a separate crime for each car. Each incident is a violation to a separate victim and transparency should be given and not treated as a single crime. The numbers in the stats should reflect this.

1. If the aforementioned inaccurate reporting cannot be changed on a local level, create and publicly release a local report with a breakdown of how many criminal instances are being counted under each instance.

• Enforcement of Code Violations Too many unresolved violations and abandoned houses are bringing down property values and are providing a gathering place for criminals and gang activity. Many of these houses have been in and out of IN REM board for 10 years without resolution and need to be expedited.

• Accountability of elected officials, including transparency in budget allocations and crime statistics. Since many of these officials are not responding to their concerned constituents, require officials to hold a certain number of public meetings to address those concerns. We find it disconcerting that very little information exists concerning the judges that prosecute many of the repeat offenders. Many are back on the street within a week committing the same crimes. This is unsafe for the public at large and demoralizes the police officers who work hard to make the initial arrest.

• Visible and Consistent police presence at high risk gas stations, shopping centers and restaurants where citizens are repeatedly targets and have multiple police reports of car break-ins and carjackings.

• Evaluate efficiency of 911 Victims in this city have many complaints concerning their experiences with 911 operators, as well as the response time. We understand this can be a stressful job but want better communication skills, and a deeper understanding of locations, directions and districts. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ cc: National Governors Association, National League of Cities, U.S. Conference of Mayors, United States Gang Intelligence Agency, Senator Johnny Isakson, Senator David Perdue, Representative John Lewis, Representative Tom Price, Representative Rob Woodall, and Representative Sanford Bishop