Atlanta crime rate down? Many residents beg to differ

By CHRISTIAN BOONE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday’s murder of former welterweight boxing champion Vernon Forrest, which came less than 24 hours after City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell was carjacked, has Atlantans worried crime is spiraling out of control.

The numbers reflect a drop in the city’s crime rate – according to the FBI, violent crimes decreased 8.3 percent in 2008 compared to 2007 (though property crimes rose 7.6 percent). Preliminary police figures indicate crime is down another 10 percent this year.

But you’d be hard-pressed to find many intown residents who’d agree with Mayor Shirley Franklin’s assertion that the city is “safer now than it has been in decades.”

“I don’t think anyone buys that,” said computer infrastructure engineer Jeff Hitt, who lives in Boulevard Heights near Grant Park. “It seems to me that there’s more crime happening in more places.”

Crime emerged as a major issue in early January following the brutal murder of bartender John Henderson as he finished his shift at The Standard on Memorial Drive. His death mobilized neighborhood watches and community groups and led directly to the formation of Atlantans Together Against Crime, a grass-roots effort that sought to end police furloughs.

Those furloughs ceased earlier this month, but a spate of sensational crimes, from Peoplestown to Midtown and several points in between, continue to capture headlines:

• *Roughly three weeks after Henderson’s murder, 19-year-old Adair Freeman was killed during a robbery outside his father’s Midtown recording studio.
• *In mid-February, prominent cancer researcher Jeanne Calle was murdered in her Midtown condo by an assailant posing as a potential buyer.
• *Three women were attacked within 26 days early this spring on a stretch of Briarcliff Road in DeKalb. In late April, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was robbed of more than $7,000 in cash and property outside a Clairmont Road recording studio not far from where the sexual assaults occurred.
• *Also in April, three young teens were shot – one fatally – after they left a convenience store a few blocks from Turner Field.
• *A month later, a man was fatally stabbed in Piedmont Park. It’s believed to be the first murder ever committed there, according to the conservancy that manages the park.
• *Just a few blocks west, the area around Georgia Tech has been plagued by robberies — some violent — with more than a dozen reported since February. Police found a loaded AK-47 and military-style body armor on three men arrested in connection with one of the burglaries earlier this month.
• All over the city there’s been a near epidemic of flat screen TV and designer blue jean thefts. And as evidenced by Mitchell’s hijacking, no one’s immune. City Council President Lisa Borders has been robbed twice this year.

Borders now calls herself the “poster child of crime,” which, ironically, might benefit her campaign to succeed Franklin. There’s consensus among the candidates for mayor that, in this election cycle, crime trumps all.

Borders is proposing a housing program that would allow more cops to become homeowners in the city. Her chief mayoral rivals — Councilwoman Mary Norwood and State Sen. Kasim Reed — say more cops are needed, with Reed wanting as many as 750 new officers hired.

“Hopefully, this is an opportunity for us to come together as a city to become more serious about public safety,” Mitchell said following his carjacking. “We cannot stand on the sidelines on this issue.”

Former City Councilman Derrick Boazman has planned a crime summit for Aug. 8 at First Iconium Baptist Church in East Atlanta so residents can learn how to deal with criminal activity.

“The events of this past weekend, coupled with an escalating crime spree in Atlanta has led many residents to feel like, ‘what are we to do?’” Boazman said. “We are seeing a very organized effort from criminals, so the response has to be organized.”

ATAC founder Kyle Keyser, who was held up at gunpoint just before Christmas at a North Avenue pizza parlor, said leadership has been lacking.

“Someone needs to get out in front of this issue,” he said. “It’s very obvious something’s going wrong in Atlanta.”

Before last Saturday, Keyser said he sensed many people had moved on. “We were having a hard time keeping up the momentum (fighting crime),” he said. “But it was just a matter of time before something else was going to happen.”

So has the city now reached a breaking point?

Mayor Franklin and Borders, in a joint statement Monday, said of the Forrest murder, “This intolerable criminal behavior is yet another tragic reminder to all of us at City Hall that we must work together to find the resources to support APD and community as it works to restore law and order to our streets. Making Atlanta safe must be our top priority.”

Meanwhile, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington maintains a low profile, though his comments in a January AJC interview still resonate. When it comes to crime, the chief said, “you have to respond to perception. Because I think perception becomes reality.”

— Staff reporter Marcus Garner contributed to this story.