View from the cop: Crime & punishment
View from the Cop is moving to a new site on Wordpress. Blogger Steve Rose of the Sandy Springs Police Department gives his take on crime, offers safety tips and give his weekly picks from the police blotter. Follow Steve Rose to the new blog site.
AJC.com > Metro > View from the cop > Archives > 2009 > January
January 2009
Crime & punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Items from the Sandy Springs police blotter:
Robbery
An employee of the Shell Station in the 7800 block of Holcomb Bridge Road reported that just before 10 p.m. a man entered the store and pulled a gun. He ordered the employee to put money in a green back pack he placed on the counter. The suspect fled on foot west on Holcomb Bridge. The report noted that during the robbery, a man walked in the door, saw what was happening, and said “Hell no” and then left the store. He was not there when the police arrived—which brings up a good point. If you believe in Murphy’s Law and the fact this is a small world, which you should, here is a good piece of advice about convenient stores. At night, especially late, make it a habit that before you go in the doors, find out where the clerk is. Many times during a robbery, they’ll put the clerk in the back room or the cooler. The last thing you want to do is walk in on a robbery in progress like the guy did here. Just take a couple of seconds and do a quick look-see.
Burglary
Someone forced a basement door open a home in the 1400 block of North Riverside Circle and took several documents from the home of the resident. The victim said a possible suspect was someone who is in civil court over issues regarding the home.
An employee said that just before 5 a.m. he was in the back of a restaurant, located in the 8600 block of Roswell Road, when he heard a crash in the front. He observed two men in Halloween masks come into the store through a broken window. He yelled and they left. One left in a Black Dodge Magnum and the other left in an older gray Honda.
Police were arrived at a residence in the 700 block of Hammond Drive after receiving a call from a neighbor who she heard noises coming from the condo adjacent to hers. She knew the owners were out of town. She said she heard one male voice say “shut up” to what she believes to be another male. Officers found the front door forced open but no one was found inside.
Theft
A woman reported someone took several items from her purse she was while dancing with a man at Taboo II. She suspects the man she danced with.
An employee of a hair salon in the 6600 block of Roswell Road said a woman had her hair done. She left a credit card and some keys on the register table and told the employee she was going outside to get something from her car that was occupied by another person. They left. The card was declined and later found to be stolen from a hair salon in Decatur, GA. The keys were probably stolen too.
An employee of a lens store in the 5300 block of Roswell Road said a man came in and presented a pair of glasses to her requesting they fix it. She took the glasses to a nearby room to look at. She looked at the closed circuit television picture of the lobby and saw the same man take a pair of Gucci glasses frames and put them in his pocket. She walked back out and asked the man if he intended to pay for the frames. He retreated to his car and left south on Roswell Road.
Fraud, Forgery, and I.D. Theft
A representative of a car dealership on Roswell Road called and said they sold a 2006 Mustang to a man who presented a company check from a company that, once they later checked, didn’t exist. The check was a phony and the car, valued at over $19,000 is still out there. The employee said they’ve attempted to find the suspect without success prior to reporting the fraud. The officer checked the name of the suspect and found a match in DeKalb County where the suspect is wanted on a warrant.
A man on Sandalwood Drive reported that someone used his identity to purchase property on Lexington Ave in Brooklyn NY. He found it on his credit report.
Someone used the victim’s personal info to open five cell phone accounts.
A twenty-dollar counterfeit bill was found at the QT in the 7800 block of Roswell Road. The suspect presented the bill but the employee quickly recognized it as fake and told the man so. The man said “Just throw it away then” and left.
Assault
Cops were called to the LA Fitness Club at 1155 Mt. Vernon Hwy regarding two men who had gotten into a fight. Officers determined that the fight stemmed from a basketball game. The victim complained to the suspect that he was kicking him in his bad knee during the game. After a couple of complaints, the suspect punched the victim in the eye—and then fled the location. The victim had lacerations to the area of his eye.
Arrests
Just after 5 p.m. two 17-year olds carjacked a man in his new Ford Expedition in a corporate parking deck in the 1100 Abernathy Road. A few seconds after the call went out, a Sandy Springs Police unit who was nearby, saw the SUV at about the same time the suspects saw the cop. The suspects, in an attempt to elude the police, drove from Abernathy to PDR, to Mt. Vernon, to Ashford Dunwoody, to Perimeter Center which, if you check the map, is a big circle. The other thing not going well for the two carjackers was that it was shift change so within about a minute, approximately 25 police cars were near the area. The suspects wrecked the victim’s car in the parking lot of a bank on Perimeter Center West and the two suspects were arrested. One suspect later commented that he had never seen so many police cars at one time.
Permalink | Comments (20) | Post your comment |
The alarm-ing part of police work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that I’m back in the field - field being the streets, the asphalt jungle, the Golden Ghetto, the—the—whatever else you call it, I’ve reconnected with a few things such as working on the weekends, good ol’ Waffle House breakfasts and lots of reports on mobile field reporting software in the cars, video. and other stuff. It makes me wonder if it wasn’t simpler back “in the day when we used call boxes and smoke signals.
I love the new technology and the databases we compile that make things like recognizing the usual suspects more recognizable because of that photo you took of the burglar a few months ago is stored on your laptop.
That stuff is definitely cool and productive because burglars don’t stop burglarizing until you give them a good reason to stop, such as being way too recognizable in your jurisdiction. Burglars don’t really stop doing that thing they do but rather move on. We know they’ll “burglar” somewhere else so we’re kind enough to point them to DeKalb, Cobb, and Atlanta, whatever. (Don’t feel bad for those places; they’re doing the same thing.)
One thing that I reconnected with was answering alarm calls. False alarms account for all but about one-half of one percent of all alarm calls. That means only a teeny-tiny percent activate when an actual connection is broken and the activation is the result of a burglary. The other ninety-nine point five percent involve a false alarm set off by the weather such as thunder, lightening, heavy rain, tsunamis, or things that are out of the hands of the resident such as birds.
Birds, if you haven’t figured it out, aren’t exactly the Einstein’s of nature. They will fly right into your window and occasionally cause the activation of the alarm. Alarm companies often have sensitivity sensors that gauge the difference between, for instance, a hummingbird hitting your window opposed to zombies, Fabio, or small UFO’s.
The most common reason for the dreaded false alarm is an accidental activation caused by the Homo sapiens species or more specifically, the Homo sapien moronioius dufus variety. They tend to forget the alarm is on, which in itself is something you need to have in your memory bank, or worse, they forget, set it off, and then fail to give any thought as to the response. It is the last part of the previous sentence that needs to be shored up.
Here’s a number that should get your attention—especially if you live in Sandy Springs. We handle between 900 and 1,100 alarms a month with that one-half-of-one-percent being the result of a burglary. The average time out of service for the officer on each alarm call is thirty minutes. This means even on a good month, wasted manpower hours, you know, time away from patrol and flirting with pretty girls is higher than my detention record in high school.
When an alarm activates and the resident and / or the company determines that the alarm was false, they can and should contact the local police department and cancel the response. Sometimes the company is supposed to call, sometimes the resident is, sometimes both, sometimes one thinks the other is supposed to and sometimes nobody (see: Homo sapien moronioius dufus.)
What is it that gets your attention? Other than irritating hemorrhoids, its money! It is common for counties and cities to charge after so many false alarms per month. I expect that we’ll do it as well. I would love to get the false alarms down to a manageable level, say, fewer than nine (%$&^) hundred!!
The fact is this, if you have an alarm system that goes off all the time, it’s an officer-safety hazard of the cry-wolf variety. If you’re setting the alarm off by opening the door when it’s armed, smack yourself in the head a few time and try to remember that the signal means the officer is coming to help. At least call and give the proper codes and then cancel it. Don’t muddy the waters by becoming a chronic false-alarm call. If you get that reputation, the response time will increase more and more because the officer knows it’s a false-alarm problem. That’s dangerous for them and you because if it does activate because of a burglar, you want the cops out there really, really, quick.
Here’s the deal: If your alarm system is faulty then get the company to come out and fix it. If they can’t, get rid of them and hire someone else who can do the job. If it’s an old system, update it. It’s worth the cost. Make your false alarm a rare event. I’d like to go on but you’re cutting into my flirting time!
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment |
When the chili gods speak, you’ll listen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nothing says fun like driving eight hours to Cincinnati on a Friday and then back on a Sunday—in with the winter storms chasing you.
Why? Surprise birthday party for Detective Sandy’s dad, and the fact the whole thing was taking place in a bar. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Arriving at Detective Sandy’s grandmother’s house around midnight, we slept for a bit and then it was up and at ‘em.
BBy 2 p.m. we were at Gold Star Chili where Sandy praised the chili gods and ordered everything on page one. She really likes Gold Star, as do I, but she takes it to a new and not necessarily healthy level. She thanked the staff, had pictures made with them, put some chili in her scrap book, chanted something about the upcoming kidney bean crop and then, just as she began to speak in tongue, we drug her out and drove to the hotel on the other side of town where we checked in and waited for the party. Sandy spent the time reciting the Gold Star menu she swiped from the restaurant and I thumbed through the Yellow Pages under “Psychological Counseling.”
By 7 p.m. we gathered with other members of the family at one of the local pubs her dad frequents and waited for him to arrive.
While we waited, we began to partake in the sprits and eatables consisting of a variety of bar foods. For some reason, the term “Nuclear” seemed appetizing so I ordered things like “Nuclear Wings” and “Nuclear Jalapeno Mushrooms” and “Nuclear Sauce for Nuclear Wings and Jalapeno Mushrooms.” I should have known it was too hot when the server looked at me, sadly, as if to say “goodbye.”
Not to worry! We Nuked-Out for a while and then headed for the Karaoke stage. I discovered that even in a nuclear state, we couldn’t sing—or, as we found out a short time later, dance.
Well, our arms were flying all around and heads were bouncing left and right and none of it to any rhythm to the music. My zig and my zag were so out of whack I looked like Joe Cocker being tasered.
We enjoyed the evening, seeing folks we hadn’t in a while and eating nuclear food.
The next morning we met for breakfast before heading back to Ball Ground, Georgia.
It was here where the trouble began.
Somewhere between the third cup of coffee and the second sausage patty I began to hear rumblings of, let’s say, an awakening of a potentially nuclear nature. I had concerns about my ability to effectively navigate an eight-hour drive in such condition. Detective Sandy, oblivious to my flushed face, increased perspiration, and disturbing sounds coming from my stomach, began to plan our next trip to Gold Star Chili. The most southern location for Gold Star Chili on I-75 going south is in Lexington, KY at the Man O’ War Boulevard. She was so excited, calling ahead and introducing herself to the staff.
The weather was calling for some snow showers.
From Cincinnati to Lexington, we made a total of about 64 stops of nuclear proportions, visiting every gas station-store bathroom along the way. At one point I felt so combustible that I ordered people not to smoke as I awkwardly did that run-walk thing to the bathroom.
I was running and sweating and the truckers were swatting dream catchers all over the parking lot. Detective Sandy somehow interpreted this as some sort of pre Gold-Star ritual so she jumped out of the truck and started dancing around in little circles, babbling something about the Gods of the Coney Dogs. The whole thing looked like a badly choreographed version of West Side Story.
Eventually, slowly, but eventually, I started to feel like I might actually survive. I stopped pulling over at every exit and eventually made it out of Kentucky.
It was at that very moment, the moment when the pain was going away, when I realized that I wasn’t going to die, when I realized that I would someday eat again, I raised my hands in the air and closed my eyes and began to sing because I felt good—but not good enough for Gold Star. I’m fairly certain that Detective Sandy will someday speak to me again and never will I eat anything labeled “Nuclear” the night before travel day.
Please, learn from this experience. I did.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
Crime & punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
News from the Sandy Springs police blotter:
Burglary
Someone broke the lock and then entered a retail business in the 200 block of Sandy Springs Circle. The alarm activated so they apparently quickly forced open a cash register and then took a small amount of cash from the register. The register was damaged. This doesn’t always work but many times the crooks will take what you give them. If the alarm doesn’t scare them off, leave the register drawer open so they can see that there’s no cash. Some owners prefer to leave a ten spot on the counter so they’ll grab it and go. I’d leave a note: “Smile-You’re on Video.”
Someone removed a fifty-inch TV from an office in the 6100 block of Lake Forrest Drive No forced entry was found and normal entry is done by a keypad.
Theft
A man reported that someone took his wallet from his unlocked locker at a gym on Mr. Vernon Highway. They purchased $300 in MARTA passes with the two ATM cards they took.
An employee of a hair salon in the 5900 block of Roswell Road said while she was working, she placed her purse on the floor next to her station. She briefly walked to the back of the salon and when she came back, the purse was gone. She said an unknown woman had come into the store just before she walked to the back. I guess it doesn’t take a lot of time to figure out why this purse got gone? Secure items you would like to go home with, such as your purse or i-Pod or whatever you have.
A woman placed her rent money order in the deposit box but was contacted by the office some time later and advised they did not receive the money order. This happens occasionally and even though they don’t like you to do it, I think I would hand-deliver that check and get a receipt.
Forgery, Fraud, and I.D. Theft
A woman reported that someone obtained personal information and opened an account with Capitol One Credit. The victim found this out when the company called about the $1,400 balanced owed. What do you do if you find you’re a victim of credit fraud?
The venue is normally the victim’s home address so contact that police department and have a report made. That’s important. Contact the three credit reporting companies, Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax. They all have websites. Put fraud alerts on them. Contact the company and tell them you’ve been a victim of ID Theft. Provide a copy of the police report to them and find out what their policy is as far as any internal investigation. Don’t forget to get names and contact numbers for everyone you speak to. Provide whatever you can to the follow up officer or detective.
Pull your credit report with the three companies above and closely review it. Mark and follow up on any suspicious inquiries and offer to provide the police report to them.
Crime Prevention 101
Motion Sensor Lights A good piece of equipment is lighting. Outside lighting is a deterrent to crooks looking to sneak up and steal from your car or break into your garage or home. Motion sensors are even better. They’re easy to install and give you an unsystematic light schedule throughout the night.
Window Locks Although a window won’t keep someone out if they want in bad enough but most burglars are not at all interested in making a lot of noise or taking half the day to compromise a window in order to get into your home. Window locks come in a variety of shapes to fit every kind of window.
Sliding Glass Doors The easiest way to keep an inside panel from sliding is to drop a dowel or a piece of stiff tubing into the empty portion of the lower track. Cut it 1/4 inch shorter than the distance between the panel and the jamb.
Most burglars who look to enter a house prefer to do so from the back where there is more concealment. Many times the point of entry is a basement door or window. A good way to prevent this entry is to replace the back or basement door with a metal door. Plant some good Holly bushes under the basement-level windows, the kind of Holly that has the big points on them so they’ll stick anything near them.
Fit your windows with window locks so that it will take some time to get passed. Make sure your basement level is on the alarm system and the alarm is on each time you leave the house.
In order to make it even harder to gain entry into the main level of the home, replace the interior door leading from the basement to the upper level of the house with an exterior solid door and put a dead bolt on it. Make sure the dead bolt has a 1.5 to 2” throw so it will sink into the door frame making it difficult to force.
A good crime-prevention plan has several levels. Landscaping is important. If he gets passed the lights and big ol’ sticky bushes, then he has to fool with the window locks and then the alarm activation in the basement and then the dead bolt on the solid door leading upstairs. It can take time and burglars don’t have time and they don’t want to make noise.
While you’re at it, go ahead and wire up a recording of a big, loud, and foaming-at-the-mouth type dog or the mating call of the Siberian Moose, set to activate when motion is detected.
Bottom line: Whatever works.
Have a great week.
Permalink | Comments (27) | Post your comment |
A big part of crime prevention is perception
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The better part of crime prevention involves the “perception” of what you want to protect.
For example, I’m only about five-feet eleven so as I approach, there is no real intimidation factor. (I hate to admit that.) That all changed after I started wearing an eye patch and a Viking helmet.
Perhaps at night, at a party or something, this would not be such a big deal but showing up in a police car to handle a bar fight—well, I think I command a presence!
Eye contact is something that can speak on your behalf. Do this: The next time you’re at the mall, as you’re walking along, look at people as they are approaching you—especially when there aren’t too many other people. As you cross into that “personal space” of the person approaching you, look them in the eye.
That’s the easy part. As they look up and at you, continue to look at them. Don’t smile, don’t nod, just look at them as you walk by. It is uncomfortable but you can bet they’ll remember it longer than if you tried that half-smile thing where you just tighten your lips and just glance at them.
Here’s how this all works:
When two people who come into range, or in contact with one another, a message is sent from each. Don’t show any submissive vibes but instead, be assertive. Look the person in the eye, opposed to looking down to the ground, as you pass. Hopefully you’ve got your pepper spray and / or taser, hand grenades, whatever, in hand, hidden, but in hand. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Are you being over paranoid? I don’t think so but a little paranoia is a good thing when you’re out and perhaps in a vulnerable situation. I’m not saying have the AR-15 shoulder-ready with a few hundred extra rounds strapped across your chest although that would be very cool.
What I’m saying is that if something were to happen, the bad guy will always look for the best opportunity and you won’t have time to “reach” for something. Trust me, If it happens, it will happen quickly. Don’t leave that up to someone else. Prepare. Give him the “look.” It says “I’m not afraid of a little eye contact.”
You can upgrade that to “I’m crazy and well armed” or “The voices are telling me to clean my guns” look. (There are many variations.) Pop an Alka Seltzer and have that rabid look as you walk in the mall, whatever works. All the “look” is doing is showing some assertiveness. Maybe that person entertained thoughts of following you to the parking lot? The “look” may discourage that. Who knows? Crime prevention results are often hard to gauge because in most cases, you’ll never know if you deterred someone from doing something or not.
Even for men, in public, don’t fall into the “submissive nod” thing. Most men, if they do acknowledge another man passing them, will nod and look down when they pass someone. Don’t do that. If you pass and you’re going to acknowledge another male, you want to be the Alpha, not the Beta male, during that brief time you pass.
Here’s what you do: look at them as you pass, nod up, and then look ahead with that sort of squint on your face like you’re Steven Segal in that Sprite commercial. If that doesn’t get you respect, try the eye patch and Viking helmet.
Permalink | Comments (38) | Post your comment |
Crime & Punishment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Notes from the Sandy Springs police blotter:
Robbery
The employee of the Shell Station on Holcomb Bridge Road reported that around 10:30 p.m. a man, wearing a black hat described as a beanie, a dark hoodie and a red bandana over his face, came in and pulled a gun on the clerk and then left with an undetermined amount of money and some Ice House beer.
Burglary
This apartment in the 1000 block of Brentwood Way was entered through a forced rear window. A laptop, computer and games, as well as $180 cash were taken.
The Cocktail Cove bar on Roswell Road reported a burglary that occurred just before 7 a.m. when someone threw a large block of concrete through a glass door. Several TV’s were missing.
Someone entered a business in the 8200 block of Roberts Drive. Several several laptop computers were missing. No forced entry was found and the complainant believes an access card was used. Another business next door also had entry and laptops missing.
Someone entered an apartment in the 2000 block of Cimarron Parkway by breaking the sliding door. They took a video game system, Dell Computer, a flat-screen TV, an i-Pod, Taylor-Made golf clubs and $3,000 worth of DVD’s.
Motor Vehicle Theft
A woman reported she loaned her car to a friend. The friend returned the keys to the woman and said the car was parked in front of one of the condo buildings. She checked but the car wasn’t parked there.
Short version-An officer spotted a car driving erratically on Roswell Road. He stopped the driver and determined he had been drinking. While performing the roadside tests for DUI, the officer heard radio dispatch a call regarding a stolen car. The description of the car matched that which he had pulled over. The officer had another officer bring the owner of the car reported stolen to his location. She ID’d the car and said that she was at Taboo-2, a club on Roswell Road. She had valet park her car and then, when she was ready to leave, she gave the ticket to the valet. Unfortunately for her at the time, she then saw her car drive off south on Roswell Road. It wasn’t the valet driving the car. The suspect was booked for stealing the car and DUI. The victim said she did not know who the man was. Her car was returned to her at the scene.
A 1997 black Mercedes E-420 was taken from the parking lot in the 200 block of Huntcliff Village Drive. It was unlocked and the keys were over the visor. Not good. Even more: The car is owned by a dealership, not the victim, so it’s really not good for this guy.
Thefts
A woman said she hosted a New Year’s party for several friends at her apartment in the 700 block of Vicksburg Place. The next morning her IBM laptop and her friend’s X-box 360 were missing.
This victim said he allowed a man, whom he met in rehab, to stay at his apartment. The man was supposed to be at an AA meeting on New Year’s Eve but got intoxicated instead. The victim picked him up and said the suspect spent most of New Year’s Day in bed. He left the man in bed and later, when he returned to his apartment, the man was gone along with the victim’s digital camera, laptop, and two bottles of prescription meds. He later contacted the suspect who denied taking the items.
A man accidentally left his debit card at a retail store on Roswell Road. He didn’t realize it until the next day. Luck being what it is the card was gone. Someone took it and used it to purchase $1,600 in goods. The delivery address was not too far off on Barrington Drive. An IP address was also obtained from the computer requesting the items from the card. This will give the detectives great leads. This crook could have been using a separate computer address and physical mailing address but I’ll bet it’s his or her own.
Arrests
Two men were arrested at an apartment complex in the 7800 block of Roswell Road after a resident called the cops regarding a moving truck that was going from building to building, parking for a few minutes in front of each. The officers responded and talked with the driver of the moving truck, Juan. Juan told the officers he was moving out and was waiting for his friend and future roommate to come out of his apartment to the truck. The officers asked Juan to step out which he did causing the marijuana, in the bag between his legs, to fall to the floorboard. They found another bag behind the driver’s seat. About that time, just after the awkward silence that occurs every time someone drops their dope in front of the cops, Juan’s friend, Demarkus, came walking up. He too had some of the green leafy substance on him. They were booked into jail and the truck, empty at the time, was locked up. It was interesting to note that both men had different stories as to why they were there although one lived on the complex. This is a good example of why, when you see something suspicious, you should call the cops.
Permalink | Comments (53) | Post your comment |
What will 2009 hold for you?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We are at the beginning of 2009 and the good news is that if you’re reading this you’re still with us. The bad news is your 401K may very well be on life support.
Resolutions New Year’s resolutions, also called “Things I Wouldn’t Bet On” are sometimes set up to fail. Don’t use it for a vent about what you didn’t accomplish of last year’s resolution list but rather be practical. Instead of saying “I’m going to lose forty pounds in two weeks,” try saying “I’m going to lose two pounds in forty weeks.”
Attainable? I think so.
My buddy Franco who’s a retired hippie is a true child of the sixties. He went to Woodstock and Atlanta International Pop Festival (1970) where he saw Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Allman Brothers, Johnny Winter, Captain Beefheart (remember him?) and according to Franco, Jesus a few times. He has the short-term memory of stapler.
He says has the same resolutions each year because they’re easy to keep up with.
They are:
Meet Ravi Shankar and buy him a drink.
Meet David Allen Coe and buy him a drink.
Meet Hank Williams Jr. and buy him a drink.
Meet Rusty Van Borston and buy him a drink. (I don’t know who he is either.)
I asked him if he ever actually accomplishes them. He said he’s accomplished about half of them. He didn’t actually get to meet them but he did have the drinks.
Whatever works?
The fact is resolutions should maybe put you in the ballpark of where you want to go and should probably go along with the times. For instance, maybe make a resolution to cut back on the hours at your third job you’re trying to keep so you can get some money back into your crippled 401K or like me, instead of getting depressed about looking older every time I look in the mirror, I vow not to look in the mirror so much.
Services »
