Though Atlanta crime is up, violence overstated

The killing of Grant Park bar worker John Henderson confirmed, for many, that violent crime in some of Atlanta’s gentrifying communities has taken a nasty turn.

The 27-year-old’s shooting death last month has done more than that. It has moved people to do something about it.

Enlarge this image

Enlarge this image

JESSICA McGOWAN / jmcgowan@ajc.com

A recent killing in Grant Park led to protests, but records indicate the main problem in such areas is property crime.

Related Links:
• Map: Atlanta crime rates by neighorhood

Recent headlines:

[an error occurred while processing this directive]    • Atlanta and Fulton County news

But the grass-roots effort for a safer Atlanta is built on the belief that some of the city’s most vibrant communities are being overrun by violent crime — which the Atlanta Police Department denies.

So who’s right? The Atlanta Police Department, for the most part.

Those communities are not suffering a violent crime wave, based on neighborhood-specific crime statistics obtained through an Open Records Act request. Property crimes, though, are a different story, and police say they likely are at the root of the heightened anxiety.

In response to a public outcry in specific neighborhoods, the AJC examined crime statistics in six patrol areas defined by the Atlanta Police Department.

Violent crime dropped in 2008 in half of the six communities examined by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and only one saw a noticeable spike. But in some neighborhoods, particularly East Atlanta, property crimes such as house burglaries and thefts have skyrocketed since 2006.

Through interviews with residents, neighborhood groups and police, the community’s fear appears to rise from the collision of two forces: a few high-profile violent crimes and an explosion in brazen home burglaries that leave victims rattled.

Still, the advocacy group that grew out of Henderson’s death, Atlantans Together Against Crime, says the level of crime in the city is still too high.

“This is on people’s radar, and that’s why they’re coming together,” said Kyle Keyser, one of the group’s founders. “Whether it’s increasing or decreasing, it’s a problem. And it’s being addressed now.”

For instance, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington is putting more officers on patrol. Mayor Shirley Franklin asked Congress for money to pay for 200 more officers.

What the numbers show

Much attention has been focused on Grant Park, a historic community anchored by the park that is its namesake, and communities that surround it.

Henderson’s death inside Standard Food & Spirits on Grant Park’s northern edge was a tipping point that set the grass-roots effort in motion. In the past month, the advocacy group that Keyser started has held several community gatherings.

After all, the city has seen some bold crimes in the area. In July, a young woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from an East Atlanta Village parking lot. In November, a beer delivery truck driver was shot to death in a daytime robbery at a gas station near Oakland Cemetery.

The newspaper obtained statistics on seven major crimes committed in six Atlanta police “beats” that comprise the following communities: Grant Park, East Atlanta, Virginia-Highland/Atkins Park, Inman Park/Poncey-Highland/Little Five Points, and Edgewood/Kirkwood/East Lake.

Violent crime dropped in half of the beats since 2006. In the three others, only one beat that includes East Lake and part of Kirkwood showed a noticeable jump this year, of 53 percent.

The increases stemmed largely from robberies, which rose in four beats and made a 71 percent jump from 2007 to 2008 in the East Lake/Kirkwood area.

Property crimes, on the other hand, have increased in all six beats since 2006 and, in some neighborhoods, accounted for a crime wave.

Atlanta police point to the explosion of two crimes; burglars kicking in doors to get to flat-screen televisions and thieves swiping GPS units from cars.

East Atlanta has been hit the hardest. Since 2006, home burglaries ballooned by 147 percent. Other thefts, classified as larcenies, jumped by 87 percent.

“It’s very alarming,” said Myron Polster, the chairman of the East Atlanta Community Association’s Public Safety Committee. “It’s just a huge number — a huge increase.”

Grant Park, meanwhile, has largely been spared. Car thefts plummeted by 41 percent in 2008, while burglaries and larcenies stayed nearly the same.

“Let’s take the crime wave crap off the table,” said Chris Newman of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association. “This clearly is an emotionally charged situation.”

What worries many is the potential for violence when a thief and homeowner inadvertently cross paths.

“People get very afraid that it might happen to them,” Chief Pennington said in an interview last month, talking about thieves breaking into homes, looking for TVs. “They might be in the shower. They might be in the bathroom when somebody kicks in the front door.”

‘Fed up’ and mobilizing

Rob Downs and Keyser were both victims of crime in the past year.

Henderson’s slaying brought the strangers together.

Downs, 33, had his East Atlanta home burglarized last summer. Keyser, 35, of Little Five Points, was robbed at gunpoint in December outside a Midtown pizza shop. Both became increasingly passionate about crime.

The day of Henderson’s killing, some discussed the idea of gathering at the site of Henderson’s murder. As it gained interest, Downs took the lead.

Keyser reached out to Downs on Facebook after seeing his name on a news release, and they teamed up to create Atlantans Together Against Crime.

“We were both fed up,” Downs said.

They have company. As of Friday, the organization had more than 5,600 members on its Facebook page, and 2,500 on the group’s mailing list.

When asked about the police statistics that run contrary to the group’s original message on its Facebook page — “violent crime is paralyzing our city” — Keyser said he has to take the police department’s numbers at face value, though he wonders whether many crimes are going unreported.

He said he is undeterred by police statistics. The group is holding monthly rallies, each one in a different community that they believe is plagued by crime. About 175 people showed up at one last week in Little Five Points.

Each gathering, Keyser hopes, will build momentum and lead to a much larger rally, on the steps of City Hall or in Piedmont Park.

“The responsibility of that is huge,” Keyser said. “People’s efforts — and looking to us — [are] going to be validated. This is going to go on.”

———————————-

In response to a public outcry, the AJC analyzed crime trends in communities on the eastern side of the city’s core to find out if violent crime is surging through those neighborhoods, as many residents contend. The analysis showed most of the communities, which fall into six “police beats,” are not seeing siginificant spikes in violent crime this year. Violent crime rose citywide in 2007 but dropped in 2008. In the past three years, property crimes have exploded in several east side neighborhoods.

• Burglaries in the Inman Park and Little Five Points area dropped by 50% in 2008 from the previous year.

• East Lake and part of Kirkwood had the largest increase in violent crime — 53 percent — in 2008.

• East Atlanta topped all other communities with a 77 percent jump in property crimes over a three-year period.

• Grant Park was the only community to record decreases in both violent and property crimes in 2008.

• Edgewood and part of Kirkwood had the most number of larcenies (1543) and burglaries (573) between 2006 and 2008.

Crimes by neighborhood