Obtaining crime information can be a challenge

Fred Pangle uses a neighborhood map, Post-it notes and word-of-mouth to track crime statistics in his Rex subdivision.

The handyman said he maps crime for his Amberwood Neighborhood Association because he can’t get enough information from the Clayton County Police Department.

“They say they can’t tell us anything unless you’re the victim,” Pangle said. “Maybe if we had crime statistics, people might come to the realization of how unsafe it is and know what’s really going on.”

Under the Georgia Open Records Act, almost all initial crime incident reports are open to public review. Across the metro area, people get individual reports every day — mostly for use in traffic cases or incidents in which they were victims.

But amid rising interest in crime rates, residents, civic groups or even reporters trying to determine broader trends in neighborhoods can find that getting information is more complicated.

Several county departments, including Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett, generally limit access to reports on a specific incident or for a specific address. There is no ready access to incident logs.

“Open records law does not require an agency to allow open inspection of bulk or all reports,” said Cpl. Illana Spellman of Gwinnett County police. “Open records law requires that if a specific report is requested and is open to public disclosure, that the information be released.”

That’s wrong, said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. Initial incident and arrest reports, she said, “are the classic public record. All of them are open, immediately and always, for public inspection.”

Russ Willard, spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, said police agencies aren’t required to provide the public with all such reports. But residents can request the reports on a daily or weekly basis, and a police agency would have to provide them within three days, Willard said.

Electronic record-keeping can further muddy the issue. Until last year, paper copies of daily incident reports were accessible at Gwinnett police headquarters in Lawrenceville.

Then the department switched to electronic records, and the general public now has to file an open records request. Reporters can get an e-mail summary on weekdays, but they also must request specific reports for details.

Spellman said the department will soon enable residents to research crime statistics online by precinct and district, as well as by specific location. The Atlanta Police Department’s Web site already has crime maps that allow visitors to view major crimes reported in the city, dating to 2004, though specifics of incidents are not included.

In Cobb, incident reports specifically requested are provided once sensitive information is redacted. That includes names of witnesses, sex crime victims and juveniles, police spokesman Dana Pierce said. Such redactions also are made by other departments.

Cynthia Rozzo, who publishes the East Cobber free newsletter, said she used to have a blotter feature based on incident reports from Precinct 4. She got the items by going through files of papers at police headquarters.

But since 2002, she said, the department has made her request specific reports and pay a fee. Continuing the blotter would be impractical, she said.

“As a citizen, I should be able to walk into my police department and ask for those reports,” Rozzo said. “They say Precinct 4 is the safest in all Cobb County. Prove it. Show me the facts.”

Residents can comb through Atlanta police reports for the previous week in an employee-only area of the agency’s central records unit. The department also has two staffers who handle Open Records Act requests from the public.

Kyle Keyser, founder of the advocacy group Atlantans Together Against Crime, said he filed an Open Records Act request March 19 for documents showing how many officers are on duty during a given shift in the six precincts and how much comp time Police Chief Richard Pennington takes. More than two weeks later, Keyser’s request is still being worked on.

“I was sort of thinking to myself, ‘It must be because of the furloughs,’ ” Keyser said, referring to staff cuts at APD.

In Clayton, residents must file an open records request if they want statistics. Lt. Rebecca Brown said active neighborhood groups such as Pangle’s are better anti-crime defenses than statistics.

Brown cited costs and manpower for its policy of not making daily incident reports readily available.

“We answer 6,000 calls a week. We would have to print every page and charge 25 cents a page,” Brown said. “It would take another full-time position. We don’t have the money or the staff.”

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FINDING OUT ABOUT CRIME

Where to get reports and department policies on access:

Atlanta Police Department: Central Records Unit, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave. Weekly reports log can be viewed; specific or older reports must be requested. 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Open Records Act requests can be submitted at atlantapd.org or by mail or fax.

Clayton County Police Department: 7911 N. McDonough St., Jonesboro. Specific reports available for 25 cents a page. Statistics or multiple reports can be sought via

open records request, with a fee for copy costs and research. Request forms available at records window 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday. claytonpolice.com/RecordsUnit.htm

Cobb County Police Department: 140 N. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Written requests preferred for specific reports, which will be provided in about a day. Victims

are not charged for copies and can get reports at precincts; others pay 25 cents a page at main office 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. police.cobbcountyga.gov

DeKalb County Police Department: Central Records Division, 1960 W. Exchange Place, Tucker. Reports available for 25 cents per page. The office is open 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon Saturday. Organizations can contact area precincts to seek crime statistics. Precinct public education specialists can be found at dekalbpolice.com/neighborhood_watch.html

Fulton County: reports available for 25 cents a page at any precinct 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Requests for crime data can be made to Capt. Darryl Halbert at 404-730-5700, and statistics are free. fultonpolice.org

Gwinnett County: reports available for 25 cents a page at any precinct 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Homeowner or civic groups can request crime statistics based on a specific location or street, but not by neighborhood, for free by calling 770-513-5215 or e-mailing pdpio@gwinnettcounty.com.

Staff writers Andria Simmons, Rhonda Cook and Marcus Garner contributed to this report.