Decatur Polce sent out this alert…
On 3/10/15 at approximately 10:13 pm, Decatur Police responded to a robbery in the 100 block of Lockwood Terrace. The victim reported she parked in her driveway and was approached by two black males in their early-mid 20’s wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hoods concealing part of their faces. One of the suspects had his right sleeve pulled down over his hand and held his arm out as if he had a weapon. The suspects told the victim to get out of her vehicle and give them everything she had. The victim complied and the suspects took her vehicle. The suspects were last seen driving north on Lockwood Terrace in the victim’s vehicle which is a gold 2006 Toyota Highlander displaying GA tag (BGV9792). The victim saw the suspects riding around in a nearby intersection on a roller scooter and bicycle as she arrived home. Officers recovered those items at the scene.
I know that the mantra is that the temporal trend for crime in COD shows a decrease over the years; we just hear about it more now and sooner. But even over just the last few years, since DM has been around, it feels to me like I’m hearing more and more about armed robberies, carjackings, even murder within COD. Does anyone else feel that way? Or was my old sense just in error–that we were in Mayberry where teens damaging public property by skateboarding on steps was a major story. I remember expecting that crime would go up during the recession but it didn’t seem to. Is this the aftermath of the recession finally coming home to roost? I also remember that it was a huge story a few years ago when someone was robbed at gunpoint at night over by Decatur United Methodist somewhere. Big talk with children. Now, we are all used to it. Or is everything really just the same or better?
It could be (I don’t know the most recent stats) that overall crime is down while certain, more alarming, crimes like armed robbery are up. For example, car theft could be down while carjacking could be on the rise again. I’ve seen warnings from some police agencies about a possible increase in carjackings because of the increased difficulty in stealing newer cars without the keys. I know a reported carjacking gets my attention more than a simple car theft.
our perception of there being more crime, when the statistics don’t bear it out, is an artifact of the hyperlocal, relatively instant media we now consume. when i was young, there were three local tv channels and two newspaper editions. the reporting of crime was via word of mouth or the highly edited (for time and space) news we consumed—typically no more than twice a day.
now, we are constantly “on”—there is no news cycle—rather, a constant 24-hour flow of everything from the farthest corner of the planet to our neighborhood block. on one hand, it keeps us attuned, in real-time, to possible threats, but because of its ubiquity, exaggerates that threat level and, generally, stresses us the eff out.
+1
That’s not much of a consolation if you are the one being jacked/robbed/murdered, etc…
I’m the husband of the carjackee, and while I do agree with what Rick said – we’re just getting a constant flow of (mostly) negative info – it’s certainly not much consolation when someone robs you/your wife in your own driveway. I had my driver side window smashed out in Oakhurst last summer on a Saturday evening, just to grab her bag of makeup that was on my console. Not 3 am in the middle of the night, but on a relatively well traveled street in broad daylight. They were kind enough to go through it and realize there was nothing valuable in there(unless they were running low on eyeliner) and left it about 30 yards down the street in a front yard.
I think the thing that concerns me most is that criminals now seem to be more brazen. There just seems to be an “any time, any place” type attitude. Maybe that’s the way it’s always been, but these two incidents that have happened to us certainly make it seem that way.
Fortunately she wasn’t harmed and they weren’t violent. One even said – “It’s not personal ma’am.” So, at least we’ve got criminals with manners running around. It could have been worse and ended up like the poor guy at the Beltline Kroger who was shot and killed in the middle of the day yesterday for approaching a car getting broken into in the parking lot. We can always replace a car and things in the car, but not the person.
I will say the police where there almost immediately and were very kind and helpful. They certainly seemed genuinely concerned and wanted to help as much as they could.
Sorry your family had to go through this. Glad everyone is safe.
Dec, I am so glad your wife is okay. Being carjacked in your own driveway must really shake one’s sense of security.
We live quite near you and it’s hard to imagine this happening on Lockwood. Your wife was really smart to keep her cool and comply with the robbers. I hate that this happens to anyone, though.
A friend was carjacked ay gunpoint leaving the Carroll Street Cafe Sunday night. She’s OK physically. Emotionally, maybe not. Where was the media coverage, hyper-local or not? She is the third person that I know personally to be a victim of carjacking since July. I don’t think here’s been any other time in my 60+ years on this planet when I’ve been able to make a statement like that, and half of those years were spent in New York City. Oh, and two friends murdered in Atlanta since 2009.
As far as feeling safe, I’ll take anecdotal evidence over statistics. Yesterday’s death at the Ponce Kroger makes my skin crawl.
“A friend was carjacked ay gunpoint leaving the Carroll Street Cafe Sunday night.”
Apparently we have a friend in common. Something else to note regarding that Sunday carjacking – the carjackers got out of an older Jeep Cherokee and left in her car. I know we have been hearing of a few Cherokees being stolen lately.
“Where was the media coverage, hyper-local or not? ”
Line from the movie Nightcrawler, spoken by a tv news producer:
“A carjacking in Compton, now that isn’t news is it?”
I feel like the jackings and crimes are happening more frequently. As the population grows in the c.o.d, the crimes will increase as well because there will be more potential targets. Hopefully as our population increases, so will the nbrr of police officers. Be aware of your surroundings and don’t hesitate to call the cops if something doesn’t seem right.
I believe it is reasonable and appropriate to expect 0% chance of armed robbery or carjacking as I go about my life and business in the city of Decatur. And if you say that’s unrealistic I assume you feel the same way about our school system’s goal to be top 10 in the country.
As far as comparing crime rates and school performance, the two goals aren’t comparable. The quality and degree of improvement possible in CSD isn’t really influenced by its geographic position within metro Atlanta (except to the extent that sub-par systems nearby have caused excessive enrollment growth in CSD). Crime in Decatur, however, is definitely influenced by its location within metro Atlanta.
I wouldn’t consider 0% to be reasonable because those who assume 0% are just the kind likely to be targeted.
^+1