Alerts from Decatur Police…
On 6/4/14 at approximately 11:35 pm, Decatur Police responded to an entering auto in the 100 block of Melrose Avenue. A witness reported while riding his bicycle he observed a male tampering with vehicles parked on the street. The witness slowed down to confront the male and was told “You’d better get out of here before I shoot you!” The witness left the area and called police. Officers arrived and located two vehicles that had been forcibly entered. One victim reported a GPS missing. The suspect was described as a black male, approximately 5’6”- 5’8” tall and wearing dark clothing. No weapon was shown.
On 6/5/14 at approximately 8:47 am, Decatur Police responded to an overnight burglary and stolen vehicle in the 100 block of Park Drive. The victim reported between 12:45 am – 8:00 am, someone entered the home, stole vehicle keys hanging on a wall and stole a 2010 Jeep Patriot from the driveway. Entry to the home was made through an unsecured kitchen window. The home was occupied but occupants were unaware of the burglary until they woke. No other items were taken. An additional entering auto was reported by a neighbor in the 100 block of Park Drive. A rear vent window was broken but no items were stolen.
On 6/5/14 at 8:55 am, Decatur Police responded to an entering auto in the 200 block of Mimosa Drive. Entry was made by breaking a rear vent window. Two pairs of work gloves were stolen.
Beginning of summer crime surge?
School’s out! But not at Friends School or Paideia, so I guess those kids are in the clear.
I would be so disillusioned if it was kids from The Friends School, with its emphasis on peace and harmony, that were responsible for break-ins. 🙁 Paideia and DHS/RMS petty crime I’ve seen. It would be nice if we could avoid the 15 year olds with guns this summer.
In a semi-related note, when I’ve talked to two separate officers the last few months about monitoring monitoring crime, driving citations, etc on the west side of town (toward Lenox Park, E Lake Marta station…), they’ve both mentioned that they used to have a great spot at the Friends church until the church requested that the officers not use their property anymore. Considering the police are “peacekeepers” around here, I found that ironic and disappointing. As a result, I’ve offered my driveway anytime they want, especially since my neighbor deterred 4 high school kids two months ago from breaking into another neighbor’s house during lunchtime via his property. They’re lucky he didn’t shoot them.
Of course, if the officers are incorrect about the Friends church, I’d love for someone from the church to set the record straight.
I wonder if that decision came about after attention was drawn to profiling. Several churches got involved with the profiling issue, I believe.
No idea, but you may be on to something. If so, that would be even more disappointing to me, as a knee jerk reaction like that not only does nothing to address profiling, but also makes it more difficult for the officers to perform their actual jobs.
It’s a church-a place for peace and repose. Police cars peeling out with lights and sirens are hardly conducive to worship.
Given that the churches here have large surface parking lots that sit empty the vast majority of the week, I don’t see how a police car parked on the edge is hurting anything. Especially for an organization that claims to be part of the community and wants to help, instead of being an exception.
Plus, if people have the perception that we actually enforce laws, people will either behave or be more prone to avoid the area. Either way, we’re better off.
You and I will have to agree to disagree. Some places are holy and above being used tor routine police matters. Surely there are other hiding spots for the police to use to do surveillance on citizens.
No, you are not blaming my alma mater of Paideia! We are far too stuck up to stoop to petty crime.
According to Medlock Park’s Facebook group 2 cars have been stolen in that neighborhood this week as well, plus 2 sightings of guys snooping in backyards.
Decaturish had a great post this week about the summer crime surge and advice from the police on how to protect yourself.
I don’t want to blame the victims, but one way to protect yourself is stop leaving things like GPS units in clear site. Why do people still do these kinds of things? Your car might still get broken into but at least there’s a chance they’d pass you by.
Another way to protect yourself from predators with guns, is to carry your own. Not my bag, but sure would be a comfort when an armed thug is lurking about.
Or maybe just pepper spray will work
Did you read the report/alert? Do you believe work gloves are enticing to criminals? How does one entice a criminal to steal a vehicle? At most ¼ of the reported crimes were the result of enticing items left by would-be victims.
What I read was that a GPS was reported missing. That’s fine. You go ahead and leave all your valuables right there on your front seat. Please disregard every sign in every parking garage known to man telling you not to leave valuables in plain site. I will add however that by your logic, we could reduce these types of crimes by 25% if people stopped leaving valuables out. That sounds good to me.
I think you missed the crux of my post. You made a presumption based on your pre-conceived notion of what occurred when the evidence presented indicates otherwise. This incidence appears to me to be targeted randomly given the distribution of assets taken (almost nothing). Perhaps you have knowledge that the stolen GPS was in plain sight which I am not privy to. No one is arguing that it is intelligent to leave valuables in plain sight; I am simply stating that you should not presume that the victim(s) were negligent in securing their valuables unless you have specific knowledge of the incident.
Also, what’s funny, in the case of the work gloves–they weren’t visible. Just thieves breaking windows trying to see what they can find.