Thursday, July 30, 2009
News Crime is down citywide, but there are pockets where it's spiked
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 6:49 PM
Jim Walls at Atlanta Unfiltered digs into statistics and finds that while crime is down citywide, there are pockets where it's risen sharply.
Aggravated assaults climbed by more than 50 percent in downtown Atlanta this year, and residential burglaries were up sharply in Buckhead and southwest Atlanta, police statistics show.Year-to-date statistics posted online show overall crime was down citywide through April, as Police Chief Richard Pennington (left) has said. That statement, and his comments about the public’s “perception” of a spike in crime, have enraged critics who believe the city is responding too timidly to recent high-profile crimes.
Aggravated assault, for instance, climbed 52 percent in Zone 5 (downtown Atlanta), even as it declined by 8 percent in the rest of the city. Auto theft was up 23 percent and bicycle theft up 120 percent in Zone 5 during the same period.
Residential burglaries climbed 54 percent in Zone 3 (Southwest Atlanta) over 2008, the statistics show. In Zone 2 (Buckhead), residential burglaries rose 33 percent. Elsewhere in the city, the number of burgaries was stable or down slightly; in Zone 1 (northwest Atlanta), they were down 28 percent.
More info at Atlanta Unfiltered.
Comments (2)
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While I am pleasantly surprised that CL referenced actual crime statistics that show overall crime in Atlanta mostly declining, I'm not shocked that no one has commented about this post. Why should citizens let facts get in the way of their righteous indignation towards the mayor and police chief? In between all the talk on local TV news yesterday about (as CBS46 so eloquently put it) our "City Under Siege," I learned that violent crime is down 10% from January to July 2009 as compared to 2008. I also learned that during January to July 2008 there were 233 carjackings in Atlanta. But between January to July 2009 there were 166. My suggestion to CL writers, the local media in general, and citizens of Atlanta, is to 1)stop the hysterics, 2)acknowledge crime is actually declining, 3)work smarter and more productively to reduce crime even further, and 4)apply even more pressure on the DA's office and judges because arrests are only the first part of the criminal justice system.
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Jay: I completely agree. Everyone just needs to step back for a minute away from the sensationalism of local news and take a deep breath. I have been trying to make the same arguments for a while now. Yes, we do have a problem. Yes, the recent crimes in the news are very troubling! However, I think it is a matter of these recent crimes having either (1) affected well-known persons or (2) been in high-profile locations that is spurring all of the attention this week. On the flip side, the attention has at least gotten the APD to respond in some fashion.
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