The Decatur Police Department sent out this note to residents, along with a list of recently REPORTED burglaries and robberies. First the note…
…the police department wants to thank everyone for their continued vigilance in neighbors watching out for neighbors. There has been a drastic decrease in burglaries city-wide between May/June (33) and July/August (14 so far) while there has been an increase in calls from the community reporting suspicious persons, vehicles and activity. We know credit for this decrease does not belong to the officers alone. Thank you and keep looking out and keep calling.
We’re checking into the difference in robberies between August and July. According to Sgt. Ross, there were 7 robberies in July and 3 so far this month.
Here are DPD’s descriptions of recently reported robberies…
On 08/20/13 at 2:23 pm, a Decatur officer responded to the Communications Center in reference to a report of a previous robbery. The victim stated on 08/15/13 between the hours of 9:45-10:05 pm, she was walking east in the 400 block of West Ponce de Leon Avenue near Farm Burger, carrying a laptop bag around her shoulder and listening to headphones, when two males suspects approached her from behind. Suspect #1 grabbed her laptop bag from her shoulder and both males ran westbound on West Ponce de Leon Avenue. The laptop bag contained a laptop. The victim could not advise if the suspects spoke to her and she only saw them from behind as they ran away. The victim stated there were numerous patrons outside nearby restaurants that did not seem to notice what happened so she did not report the robbery and continued walking toward the Decatur MARTA station. The victim later decided to report the robbery at the urging of friends so her stolen laptop could possibly be located. The suspects were described as follows:
Suspect #1:Black male, approximately 6’ tall, wearing a dark t-shirt and Atlanta Braves hat
Suspect #2:Hispanic male, approximately 6’ tall, wearing a white hooded sweat shirt and jeans.
On 08/21/13 at 12:57 pm, a Decatur officer responded to the Communications Center in reference to a report of a previous armed robbery and kidnapping. The victim stated on 08/20/13 at approximately 2:00 pm, she conducted a banking transaction at the Delta Community Credit Union located at 245 West Ponce de Leon Avenue and upon returning to her vehicle in the parking lot, was approached by a male suspect who stated he had a gun and demanded she give him all of her money. The victim reported she gave the suspect her money and the suspect requested she go back into the bank and get more money. The victim further stated she noticed a second male standing nearby while the suspect was demanding more money. The first suspect told the victim to come with him into the bank and they proceeded into the bank. The victim and suspect approached a teller and were told no funds were available. As the victim and suspect were leaving the bank, the suspect continued to demand money and the victim gave the suspect a financial transaction card and the card’s PIN. The victim stated she then exited the bank, ran to her vehicle and drove to another credit union and attempted to file a police report with another police agency. No weapon was displayed. Investigators are working to verify details of this incident. The suspects were described as follows:
Suspect #1:Black male in his late 30’s, approximately 5’10, medium build, wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, black blazer, black skull cap and black dress shoes.
Suspect #2:Black male in his mid-40’s, large build, close haircut, wearing a white t-shirt with a black design on the front and black Dickie pants
And here’s are the summaries of reported burglaries, all dating this Wednesday…
On 08/21/13 at approximately 7:20 pm, Decatur police responded to a residence in the 100 block of Garland Avenue in reference to an attempted burglary. The victim stated he arrived home and noticed a large crack in a kitchen window. It appeared someone had attempted to pry the window open. The victim contacted his alarm company and learned his alarm was triggered at approximately 5:46pm with the point of activation being the kitchen window and the alarm reset after only ten seconds. The alarm company had not contacted the victim or the police. No entry was made into the residence and no items were reported stolen.
On 08/21/13 at approximately 8:15 pm, Decatur police responded to a residence in the 200 block of Second Avenue in reference to a burglary. The victim stated she left the residence prior to 7:00 am and had just arrived home and noticed a rear door unlocked and jewelry items and (3) laptops/tablets missing. The officer located an open rear window leading into a bathroom that appeared to be the point of entry.
On 08/21/13 at approximately 9:30 pm, Decatur police responded to a residence in the 100 block of Feld Avenue in reference to an attempted burglary. The victim stated she received a call from a neighbor at approximately 8:47 pm advising an audible alarm was coming from her home. The neighbor checked the residence and observed a front window ajar but nothing else appeared disturbed. The victim arrived home and stated the window was closed when she previously left the residence, an item from the window ledge had been moved but it appeared further entry was not made into the home. No items were reported stolen.
Suspect #1:Black male in his late 30’s, approximately 5’10, medium build, wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, black blazer, black skull cap and black dress shoes.
Suspect #2:Black male in his mid-40’s, large build, close haircut, wearing a white t-shirt with a black design on the front and black Dickie pants
Wonder why the victims in the robberies waited to report the crimes, in one case waiting almost a week?
Amazingly, sometimes victims react with embarrassment at being so stupid as to be robbed. I sort of had that happen to me once when I fell for a “students raising money for field trip” scam. It didn’t help the store manager and police expressed surprise that I fell for it. And it’s interesting how bystanders can either not notice or ignore this kind of incident. I have a friend who was pregnant standing near the door on a crowded MARTA train when a woman tried to steal her purse and run off the train. The thief kept pulling on the shoulder strap and swearing and scratching my friend until finally the thief gave up and left the train as the door was closing. No one did anything. My friend had to walk herself to the other end of the car to pick up the phone for help. It was very hard for her to stay on the train knowing that her fellow passengers were either clueless or indifferent.
I’m betting that this was a young adult woman who was in shock and confused when the incident happened then was embarrassed to report it as more and more time went by. Luckily her friends gave her good advice to report the incident.
We all have to practice in her heads screaming, yelling, and calling for help for moments like this. In the moment, you need reflexes to kick in until rational thought returns.
“The Decatur Police Department sent out this note to residents, along with a list of recently REPORTED burglaries and robberies.”
I am wondering how this note was distributed. I did not receive the information and believe that I have provided my contact information already. Can someone please describe exactly what must be done to ensure we are on the distribution list?
Talk to Sgt Ross.
Sharron, you need to contact Sgt. Jennifer Ross with Decatur PD. [email protected]
Good luck.
A ton of bikes are disappearing in Oakhurst and no one is reporting them to the police. I know of 4 separate incidences involving 6 bikes
Why are they going unreported?
i had my bike stolen in oakhurst, maybe ten years ago. i didn’t report it. i guess i could have taken the time to make a report, but didn’t see the benefit in doing so.
Good question STG. I’ve read that most petty crime is not reported. Some people in Decatur will report anything, including those walking their dog and allowing it to urinate on their mailbox post. But some will not. So when you see that statistics show that crime is decreasing in Decatur, beware. Also something to consider is the amount of crime along the Memorial Drive/Glenwood Road corridors. These areas are not in the city of Decatur (not part of our stats) but close enough for concern.
Kent Brockman: Mr. Simpson, how do you respond to the charges that petty vandalism such as graffiti is down eighty percent, while heavy sack beatings are up a shocking nine hundred percent?
Homer Simpson: Aw, you can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of all people know that.
Kent Brockman: I see. Well, what do you say to the accusation that your group has been causing more crimes than it’s been preventing?
Homer Simpson: Oh, Kent, I’d be lying if I said my men weren’t committing crimes.
Kent Brockman: [pause] Well, touché.
The National Bike Registry (or something like that) works real well. It does cost something like $10 but it paid off once for us. Many stolen bikes are eventually abandoned by the thieves. Then they sometimes end up in police departments which often will check the NBR.
Embarrassment at leaving unlocked bikes around, not wanting to take the time or fear of wasting police time.
Embarrassment: understandable, get over it
Not wanting to take the time: laziness, get over it
Reluctance to waste DPD’s time: not a waste, call them and report it
I can understand how, especially if the bike taken is a child’s bike that was not expensive (relatively speaking) and/or will soon be outgrown anyway, any of those factors could be in play. BUT the Broken Window Theory applies.
Like a lot of other things, your idea of wasting the Police’ time may not be considered a waste by them. Your report may be a piece of a puzzle and/or prompt more patrols or may fill pieces in an investigation.
For that reason, reporting even petty crime is like voting and jury duty — step up or shut up.
+1
You can register your bike with Decatur PD so, if they find or recover one, they’ll know whose it is. Can also be evidence that someone stole it if it’s found in someone else’s possession.
Not in Oakhurst, but we had a kids’ bike stolen and didn’t report it because we weren’t sure when it was stolen and while we knew the bike’s color, we weren’t sure of what brand it was or what it exactly looked like. In the future we will be taking pictures of our bikes in case they go missing.
As I said, register your bikes.
I’ll add that my neighbor’s car was stolen on Friday night just off Ponce near Adair Park. It was an older model Honda Civic.
The report of the first laptop crime only adds to my “grumpy old man” stance on the growing number of people who cannot exist in public transit (walking, biking or riding) without ear buds in and music playing.
I love kick ass tunes as much as the next guy, but I’m baffled by people who seemingly have the need to shut out the world at the expense of the awareness of their surroundings.
Agree. There’s the damage to hearing, as well. I’m always puzzled by how many parents who are in other ways extremely safety-conscious, e.g., wouldn’t dare let their kid ride her bike 20 feet without wearing a helmet, seem to be fine with letting their adolescent offspring bombard their ears constantly. In addition to physical risk, I see intellectual and social downsides to the constant self-isolation, not even counting the fact that it’s like wearing a sign that says, “Mug me next!”
I think many parents care about this but it is harder to enforce. It’s easy to spot if your child has their helmet on or not. But earbuds are so inconspicuous that half the time I don’t even notice a child is wearing them. And even if I notice them, it’s hard to know what the volume is. To make it worse, they were on the supply list this year for Renfroe–for the iPad use at school. You don’t have to buy them; the school has some to distribute, but even just putting them on the list is helping to make them ubiquitous. In my day…..
I hope “the school has some to distribute” means ‘give away’. The notion of sharing ear buds makes me cringe.
I misspoke a little. The school put portable headphones on the list. My guess is that the school distributes dorky headphones with earpads. Those are probably reused and shared. The kids all want their own personal earbuds. Strangely enough sharing earbuds seems more disgusting but I wonder if the earpads aren’t more likely to transmit something….lice. Feeling a little itchy right now….
Burglary yesterday in broad daylight on Superior Ave in Great Lakes. I don’t have any details, will report if I hear something.