Comments on: Decatur, DeKalb…What’s the Diff?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:12:31 +0000

The following exchange took place today between yours truly and Steve Schwaid, the News Director of channel 46 (“We ask the tough questions”). I have not received a response after my last message, in which I got a little nasty.

BTW, this is not the first time Mr Schwaid and I have exchanged emails on this subject. The previous exchanged have ended in a similar fashion.

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From: Steve
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:29 AM
To: Steve Schwaid
Subject: Confusion

Howcum the story about the carjacking where the suspect was shot correctly states that the incident was in DeKalb County, but the caption under the video link says “Decatur”

Steve
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From: Steve Schwaid
To: Steve
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:50 AM
Subject: RE: Confusion

From our web folks:
No confusion. It happened in Decatur. Decatur is in DeKalb County. This is Decatur, but in unincorporated DeKalb. Both terms are correct in this story.

Steve Schwaid
Director of News and Digital Content
CBS Atlanta News and CBSATLANTA.com
Direct: 404-327-3267
Cell: 917-952-1392
Fax: 404-327-3062
Steve.Schwaid@cbsatlanta.com
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From: Steve
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 12:40 PM
To: Steve Schwaid
Subject: RE: Confusion

Sorry, but Decatur is an incorporated city since 1823 that happens to be in DeKalb County like Avondale, Chamblee, Doraville, Stone Mountain, etc. We may be a bit parochial, but we are proud of our community spirit and involvement and one of the results is a low crime rate (one homicide each in 2008 and 2009, for instance). We do not appreciate being associated with crimes that happen far from our City (almost 5 miles in this case) and therefore are associated with us by unaware people. Just because a location has a Decatur address assigned by the post office doesn’t mean it’s in our City limits.

It is not difficult to differentiate: DeKalb police uniforms are gray and their cars are gray. Decatur uniforms are dark blue and the cars are white. The spokesman, Ofc. Gagnon, was from DeKalb County.

Every other outlet got it right – yours was the only one that had any mention of Decatur and I think that and your response reflects directly on your organization’s professionalism, but I guess that question is too tough.

Perhaps you should visit our City sometime and see what we mean. I’ll be happy to give you directions.

Steve

By: Harpua

Harpua — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:44:03 +0000

Regardless of crime perception, Decatur vs. Unincorporated DeKalb has always been a pet-peeve of mine. I used to work with several folks who said they lived in Decatur (due to their assigned postal address) but actually had no idea where ‘City of Decatur’ proper was. It drove me insane. I think they actually lived somwhere outside the perimeter near Wesley Chapel Road. I was actually excited when Vernon wanted to create the ‘City of DeKalb’ because I thought it might correct this annoying issue for me.

That said, I don’t really have any problems with people who live near Decatur but not inside the city limits saying they live in the ‘Decatur-area’ or whatever.

However, I do agree with others that is very unethical for real estate agents to misrepresent the location of a property as being inside ‘City of Decatur’ when it actually is not and merely has a Decatur postal address. Same with the ‘Oakhurst/Kirkwood’ listings (which I’ve noticed are always actually located in City of Atlanta/Kirkwood and not the other way around). Guess it’s good that Decatur is a desirable address, though!

By: Harry

Harry — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:18:33 +0000

I agree with you JoeBlow and think you have really hit onto something.

Crime happens and can happen regardless of the jurisdiction. If I live in the City of Decatur and crime happens in unincorporated Dekalb or City of Atlanta a few blocks away, I’m still concerned and am not just going to bury my head in the sand because we have a great police force here in Decatur. They can’t be everywhere at all times.

By: nelliebelle1197

nelliebelle1197 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:46:18 +0000

Have you ever met any of the hardcore Inman Park Neighborhood Association people? I know a number of the more involved people over there. They get upset a lot.

By: nelliebelle1197

nelliebelle1197 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:42:04 +0000

I just find that so unethical though!

By: JoeBlow

JoeBlow — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:40:57 +0000

I’m not necessarily saying/assuming they’re in blanket denial. For some reason this discussion calls to mind a recent happening in Inman Park. There was a slew of home invasions (6 is the number that stands in my head) that occurred in that neighborhood, I think around this time last year. A local news station reported on the incidents from a local restaurant parking lot and there were members of the Inman Park Neighborhood Association who were furious that one of “their” businesses would allow the reporter to broadcast the story. The underlying message was “we don’t want people thinking that sort of thing happens here.”

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:29:09 +0000

No, I’m saying that in this particular case you are making a pretty big assumption to prove your point.

Neither you or I could ever prove that criminals are more “dangerous” in one place over another. But I can compare crimes against people in South DeKalb (“Decatur” zip code) and inside the city limits and look at the data, no?

Your argument seems to be that even though people are SAYING they’re concerned about public perceptions because of real estate prices and broader public perceptions of the city, really they’re in blanket denial of any crime in Decatur.

I’m pretty sure it’s not an either/or. You can believe that public perception is important for city PR and at the same time have a healthy perception of crime in Decatur.

By: JoeBlow

JoeBlow — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:18:50 +0000

This time, sure. But are you saying that here in the City Of Decatur, our criminals aren’t as dangerous as those menaces in unincorporated parcels?