Atlanta and the perception of crime

• Joeff Davis
• Former APD Chief Richard Pennington's legacy? The so-called "perception of crime."

Former Atlanta Police chief Richard Pennington is notorious for having implied that Atlanta doesn't have a crime problem, rather it has a perception of crime problem. Statistics show that crime is down, so the insinuation was that if people still feel unsafe, well, that's their problem.

Pennington's words have repeatedly been made flesh since they were uttered, most recently in the form of a survey commissioned by the Atlanta Police Foundation, which quizzed 600 Atlantans about their perceptions of crime, their perceptions of the APD, among other things.

Atlanta Police Foundation president Dave Wilkinson told the AJC that the survey "confirmed our belief that the perception of crime is a little worse than the reality of crime."

But, really, when it comes to crime, don't people's perceptions have some basis in reality?

Here are some highlights from the survey:
— 72 percent of the subjects would describe Atlanta's crime problem as either extremely or very serious.
— 34 percent said there was much more or somewhat more crime in their neighborhoods than there was five years ago (27 percent said crime was about the same)
— 67 percent said they feel very safe in their homes, but only 19 percent said they feel very safe walking in their neighborhood at night
— 49 percent frequently or occasionally worry about their cars being broken into, 43 percent worry frequently or occasionally about being mugged, and 46 percent worry frequently or occasionally about their homes being burglarized

Current Chief George Turner has been more diplomatic than his predecessor on the subject. "Perception means everything," he's been quoted as saying. "Until our citizens feel safe, our work is not done." The Atlanta Police Foundation might consider taking a cue from Turner.

Click here to look at the survey in its entirety (and here for current crime stats).