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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Why does crime give some areas bad reps but not others?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Boy, it’s getting bad down here.”
That’s the mantra around Centerville after the murder of a restaurant worker five weeks ago.
Robbers interrupted 19-year-old Julio S. Ajanel while he was cleaning tables at Mr. Eggroll near Snellville. They gunned him down, stole money and left.
No one has been arrested. Police say the investigation is ongoing.
“It is believed this homicide is connected to a series of armed robberies of Chinese food restaurants,” said Cpl. Darren Moloney of Gwinnett Police.
Merchants in the shopping center at Ga. 124 and Bethany Church Road where the shooting occurred have been reassured by the presence of an armed security guard who makes regular rounds. Ingles, the shopping center’s anchor, is providing and paying for the guard. Merchants also feel better since the change to Daylight Savings Time, which allows many of them to leave before dark.
An employee of Mr. Eggroll said its dining-in business has declined since the March 7 shooting, but its delivery business has picked up. Some patrons who previously ate in the restaurant now have it delivered, the employee — who did not give me her name — said.
Elsewhere in the shopping center, merchants say they and their customers are concerned and cautious, but that the shooting has not hurt business. The crime’s effect on the reputation of the Centerville area, however, is not as benign. Coming on the heels of other burglaries and robberies and a September murder in the parking lot of McDonald’s in Centerville, the news adds to the perception of a declining area.
Is the perception fair?
A crime like the one at Mr. Eggroll could happen anywhere, said the restaurant’s employee.
Not only can it happen anywhere, it does happen elsewhere, said Ron Weber, who bought the Buck’s Pizza in the Centerville shopping center on March 4, just days before the shooting.
“There are kids on drugs in good neighborhoods; there are kids on drugs in bad neighborhoods,” Weber said.
Weber owns five locations of Buck’s Pizza, including one near Oak Road and Five Forks Trickum. That location, which falls into the more prestigious “Brookwood area” has been robbed twice.
His store is not alone, he said, as he counts off other businesses in the Five Forks/Oak Road area that have been victims - a credit union, a bank, a gas station, etc.
“If you own a retail store, you realize that is a risk,” Weber said. So he uses security equipment and trains his employees how to respond if a robbery occurs.
I’ve read about incidents in the Five Forks/Oak Road area, as well as a murder not far away at Five Forks and Moon Place Road. Interestingly, though, I haven’t heard anyone say that neighborhood is “getting bad.”
This week, I visited some of the businesses there and asked employees what they thought. A few mentioned the robberies, but didn’t translate them into a crime “problem.”
Neither did a customer who overheard my question.
“There’s really not a problem here,” he said as he picked up his to-go order in a café. “but down in Centerville, there is. It’s getting bad down there.”
Why do some areas develop image problems when crime occurs, when other areas do not?
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