DEL.ICIO.USQ&A with Atlanta crime fighter Kyle Keyser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Kyle Keyser has been a crime victim. But the murder of a young bartender at The Standard in Grant Park earlier this year pushed Keyser into the role of anti-crime activist. Keyser is a co-founder of Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC), a group with a few thousand members that has gotten plenty of local and some national media exposure of late. So just what does ATAC want to be when it grows up? From his front porch Keyser, 35, talked with us about vigilance, guns and bad credit.
Bita Honarvar/bhonarvar@ajc.com
Kyle Keyser, the founder of Atlanatns Together Against Crime, says he prefers a non-violent approach to fighting the city’s violent crime.
Q: Is that a video camera up there on your porch roof?
A: My house has been robbed twice. So I’m like, “I’m not gonna get robbed again, and if I am, I’m gonna know who it is.” So I bought four (video) cameras.
Q: Before you got robbed at gunpoint outside a Pizza Hut in December?
A: Before that even happened.
Q: You’re just a little crime magnet. What’s up with that?
A: I don’t know. Is it me, or is it Atlanta? I think there’s a certain degree of crime that you expect when you live in the city. But last year, when more and more of my friends got held up at gunpoint or sexually assaulted, and then I got held up at gunpoint, and then someone gets killed at The Standard, it’s like it’s getting out of control here.
Q: How is it you know so many people who’ve been victimized? Is there some common denominator: a neighborhood, the way you live?
A: Maybe my social circle’s big. But the part that makes it different for me is when there was a gun involved. It wasn’t just a car window getting broken out. It was violent.
Q: Do you have a gun yet? Mace? Pepper spray?
A: No, I don’t. But when you are a victim of violent crime, it’s a thought that crosses your mind in the process of healing. But I don’t want to live like that. In the city of Martin Luther King Jr., let’s take the non-violent approach.
Q: Atlanta Police Department’s statistics indicate that violent crime is not up in the city, but down. So are you trading on fear?
A: Since we’ve started (ATAC), the debate has come up — is crime really going up, or is it going down? Is it perception, or is it not? For me, personally, I’m not interested in having that conversation.
Q: Why not?
A: Because one violent crime is one too many. You’re never going to erase it. But if you have a city that’s engaged and communities that are freshly aware, you’re going to affect it in a good way. You’re going to be doing something about it pro-actively.
Q: You’re the full-time, unpaid, sole staff member of Atlantans Together Against Crime. And you’ve said you got laid off from your video production job. So how do you support yourself? It’s not through that ‘donate now’ button on the ATAC Web site, is it?
A: Not at all. But I’ll be honest, I’ve stopped paying all my bills except for my mortgage. My credit is shot.
Q: How do you describe Atlantans Together Against Crime, and how many members do you have? You’ve claimed everything from 2,000 to 10,000.
A: It’s a collection of Atlanta residents from all over the city, regardless of race, class or community. Which is so encouraging. It’s concerned citizens, it’s neighborhood organizations, it’s groups that have been doing this for years. How I measure our numbers is, I cross the numbers from our Facebook group and our Web site. So I cross the two and give an estimate.
Q: You’re not a registered non-profit with 501(c)(3) status? How much have people donated?
A: You want me to tell you the truth or a lie?
Q: Truth.
A: (From the Web site) I’ve gotten two (donations) — a $25 and a $15 — and it’s still sitting in that (ATAC) account. The Atlanta Police Foundation has reached out and said, “We will provide you help with 501(c)(3) status, office space, a mechanism for people to donate.” (That) will help us get organized while remaining completely autonomous with our brand. Like Crime Stoppers.
Q: You’ve been critical of the Atlanta police in the way they’ve handled the Tramaine Miller case, where an off-duty officer shot Miller in the face during a security sweep of a Mechanicsville apartment complex.
A: There’s a history of racial injustice (in Atlanta). I want to be an independent voice in all of this and bring people together. Yes, I came out critical of the police, saying, “You guys might have messed up, and there needs to be an investigation. Because you guys taking responsibility for the bad and the good is just going to help the public trust you guys more.”
Q: You’ve criticized the city saying that budget crisis must be addressed in some way other than furloughs because reduced police hours have the potential to jeopardize public safety. So what other options besides raising taxes would you suggest?
A: If I had those answers, I’d run for mayor.
Q: I read a quote from you where you said you felt as though you had many of the Atlanta mayoral candidates right where you wanted them. What did you mean by that?
A: I mean that we as an organization have their ear.
Q: Candidates showing up at a rally and knowing who you are is one thing. But them actually inviting you to sit down at the table with them is another.
A: I have them where I want them in the sense that they are listening, they are coming to our events, they know that this is important. I can reach out to 10,000 people, and that can turn an election.This is a movement that isn’t going away.
Q: Who’s allowed to be in your group? Because there are people who post to your pages that are big on carrying guns and some who think that all crime is committed by young black men.
A: Everyone is invited, but the people who speak on our discussion boards, they speak for themselves. They do not speak for the organization or me. I’ve been getting accused of, that by calling for more police, that that’s inherently racist and classist because they disproportionately jail minorities. And you know what? That’s true. The system isn’t perfect. Like calling for an end to furloughs won’t solve the problem, but will at least get us to a baseline.
Q: Your group came into being in the wake of The Standard murder and helped push to raise reward money. So with the arrest of one of the alleged shooters (two weeks ago), did you feel some sense of pride or vindication?
A: The day he was caught, that was such a hard day. I was just so emotional about it. There’s no reason to celebrate this. This is a 17-year-old with 22 prior charges. That’s a life lost too. The people that I want to help with ATAC, it includes a 17-year-old. How did he get into a life of crime? What failed him?
Q: Ever want to run for office?
A: No. I want to produce videos and make TV. Community organizing, I see it as a way to step up because I was a victim (of crime). I see it as a responsibility.
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