Fulton seeks solutions in wake of car theft from Queen Latifah, others

The problem is clear: in south Fulton and across the county, people are stealing cars and the items in them from gas stations and convenience stores while their owners are distracted.

Until people start taking more precautions themselves, the solutions present more of a challenge.

Is there a need for more police? More security cameras? More discretion from the courts before they grant bond to repeat offenders? More after-school activities for the teens who are accused of perpetrating more than 70 percent of the crimes?

In a wide-ranging conversation Tuesday, Fulton County residents, business owners, educators and political leaders shared their thoughts on what might be done to reduce the number of crimes, and put residents at ease in their communities. Fulton County Chairman John Eaves on Wednesday expects to ask commissioners to approve the creation of a task force that will look more closely at the issue and its solutions, and a multi-jurisdictional police squad that will more frequently patrol businesses where the crimes are taking place.

“I want something substantive to come out of the concerns people are having,” Eaves said. “The reality is that we’re not going to be able to solve the issue unless everybody does a little bit more.”

The problem has become so bad, District Attorney Paul Howard said, that his wife now drives to Cobb County to pump gas because she no longer feels safe at her local south Fulton stations. In recent weeks, the thefts of cars belonging to the actress Queen Latifah and Marvin Arrington, Sr., a former Superior Court judge, have drawn attention to the 12 percent increase in car thefts in unincorporated Fulton County in 2016, and the 17 percent increase in thefts from motor vehicles.

“The community is really fearful of doing something that’s a common-day activity,” Howard said.

Daniel Ngugi, district manager of a BP station on Cascade Road that has seen a lot of crime, said he understood residents’ frustration. He reduced the BP’s hours of operation, closing the store at 10 so make it less welcoming for criminals at night, he said. He also spent $22,000 to install 18 cameras. But when someone at the store calls 911, it can be 15 minutes before an officer shows up.

“We are frustrated more than you are,” he said. “We cannot do it alone.”

Bill Crane, with the Atlanta Retailers Association, said members were willing to post signs that told people to lock their cars when they pumped gas. They would also consider moving signs in their stores to improve visibility, in addition to connecting existing security cameras to the police department’s system.

Howard estimated it would cost $2 million to buy security cameras for the gas stations that didn’t have them, an investment he thought the county should make.

New legislation may be proposed to help curb some of the issues — laws that would prevent someone who was arrested while out on bond from posting bond again, and those that would give more discretion to judges, especially in juvenile court, to keep offenders in custody, said Bradley Boyd, chief judge of the Fulton County Juvenile Court.