On the agenda for tonight’s Decatur City Commission meeting, “approval of an agreement with the City Schools of Decatur and American Traffic Solutions, Inc. for equipment, installation and maintenance of an automated traffic enforcement system to detect vehicles illegally passing school buses when children are loading and
unloading.”

Back on May 13th, the Decatur school board approved an agreement with American Traffic Solutions that will result in no capital expense is required by the City or CSD.  Revenue from operation will be split between the city, CSD and the vendor, according to a letter from Police Chief Mike Booker to the City Manager.

How does it work?  Here’s the operational section of Chief Booker’s note…

The camera system uses digital image technology with integrated violation detection. The camera assemblies are bus mounted and work in both daylight and dark Each system monitors four lanes of traffic, and includes a wireless modem and GPS unit.

While students are loading or unloading the bus, the system monitors oncoming vehicles from both  directions. If a violation occurs, an eight second video is captured and three images are extracted. These show a before violation photograph, a during violation photograph, and a close up of the plate.

The images and violation data are combined into a single encoded violation file that is downloaded to the ATS office processing center. ATS reviews the images for license plate readability and transfers the video, images, and vehicle and registered owner information to the City of Decatur Police Department Each violation shows the location of the event, and a data bar also shows that the brake lights, flashing red lights,
and stop arm on the bus were extended.

The City of Decatur Police Department is responsible for reviewing all potential violations. ATS is responsible for retrieving owner information and vehicle description and printing and mailing the citation. Based on data collected from other jurisdictions with school bus safety camera enforcement programs, it is anticipated that after initial installation there will be 6-10 violations per day for ten buses. This should require less than 10 minutes a day of officer review time. As drivers become more familiar with the system, it is anticipated that violations will be reduced by 30-50%. The City Schools of Decatur may install up to 15 systems.

If approved, the system could be in place by the the beginning of the next school year in August.

Photo courtesy of CSD via WABE

A few of you already mentioned this in FFAF last week, but CSD was good enough to post the full safety meeting video on their website with this note…

In response to recent crime targeting City Schools of Decatur students, the school system and police department hosted an information session on Thursday evening, Sept. 5 at 6:30 pm in the theater of Decatur High School. Lauri McKain, principal of Decatur High School, presented some of the changes to procedures for large school events moving forward, and Chief Booker of the Decatur Police Department and his staff provided safety recommendations to our students and families. Dr. Edwards, Superintendent, was grateful for the attendance of so many of our families, staff and concerned citizens, and welcomes questions or comments through our contact_us email address: contact_us@csdecatur.net. Thank you!

Over at Decaturish, Dan has a great report from the meeting.  Check it.

UPDATE:  Fox5 also covered the meeting – which includes part of some opening remarks from Mayor Pro-Tem Cunningham – in a segment that you can view HERE.

The Decatur Police Department spoke to a packed room  of around 130 people at the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association meeting last night to discuss the recent increase in crime in the city and surrounding area.  Keith summarized the meeting thusly in a comment last night…

…it was a very good session. With representatives there from APD, Decatur, and Dekalb I came away with the feeling that they truly are working together and that it is a strong working relationship.Chief Booker kicked things off and then Detective (I think) Richards who heads up criminal investigations spoke about the number of events. Then Sgt. Jennifer Ross gave us some details on the robberies before Deputy Chief Lee explained what they were doing about everything. It sounds like most of the juveniles involved in the crimes are from Zone 6 in Atlanta and mostly from right up Hosea a half mile or so from the police station. Sounds like they have lots of intelligence and so far they are not releasing sketches from the robberies because they think they have enough without making them public. It they hit a roadblock, then they’ll go ahead and release sketches to get some help from the public.

Patch also reported that the police said at the meeting that they “had some strong leads and hope to make arrests soon”. Also discussed at the meeting was the resurrection of the Oakhurst Owls community watch program, which has been inactive for several years.

DPD posted the above video message from Decatur PD Chief Mike Booker on YouTube yesterday.

The City just sent out this statement…

The City of Decatur Police Department is in the process of investigating a series of 13 day time burglaries that occurred from May 30 – June 26 that appear to be related.  The majority of the burglaries occurred in and around S. Candler Street including parts of the Oakhurst and Winnona Park neighborhoods.  The burglaries seem to be related to a significantly higher number of similar incidents in DeKalb County and the City of Atlanta.  All three jurisdictions are working on a coordinated approach and together have made one arrest, detained five juvenile perpetrators, recovered a stolen vehicle, and recovered stolen property.

The Decatur Police Department is also in the process of investigating an attempted robbery and two robberies that occurred in Oakhurst on July 1 & 2 and a car theft that occurred on Swanton Way in downtown Decatur on July 3 that resulted in the vehicle crashing at Kirk Rd. and South Candler Street.  A 15-year-old suspect is currently in custody.

According to information obtained from the witnesses and the victims, both the burglaries and the robberies are being committed by juveniles.  Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker said that there is no indication that the juveniles are Decatur residents.  He added that these appear to be crimes of opportunity with no regular pattern but that they do share common characteristics in terms of items stolen and the number and age of the suspects involved.

Chief Booker stated that “We are meeting and comparing information on a daily basis with both DeKalb County and City of Atlanta officers working the cases.”  He added “that in addition to the regular patrol shifts of five officers, the City has called in additional off-duty police officers and re-directed the four special unit officers to assignments related to addressing the current situation.” Officers are using marked and unmarked cars and implementing periodic roadblocks throughout the city.  Additional uniformed city staff, including firefighters, are assisting in the patrol of city parks, neighborhoods, and the business districts.  In addition to responding to all burglaries and processing all latent prints, the police are using the GBI sketch artist and anticipate the release of at least one sketch very soon.

Decatur Mayor Jim Baskett said, “We want to assure the community that resolving these incidents are a top priority for the City Commission, the Police Department and all City staff. We are confident that they are utilizing every available resource to catch the perpetrators.”

Mayor Baskett continued, “The police regularly issue community advisories and update them as more information is available for release.  We encourage the community to read those advisories and follow the suggested safety precautions.”  Advisories are also posted on the City of Decatur website at www.decaturga.com.

Chief Booker and other police staff members will attend the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association Meeting on Monday, July 8 at 7 p.m. at The Solarium, 321W. Hill Street and the Winnona Park Neighbors Meeting on Tuesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. at the Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore Street.  They are also available to attend other neighborhood association meetings.  Call 404-373-6551 if you would like to request they attend your meeting.

The Decatur Police encourage the community to call if they see any suspicious activity.  The non-emergency number is 404-373-6551.  If you believe you are witnessing a crime, or have an emergency, dial 911.

The City of Decatur’s Linda Harris sends this announcement from Decatur Police Chief Mike Booker…

The Decatur Police Department is investigating the theft of catalytic converters from (7) vehicles in the past 72 hours. All of these thefts occurred during the overnight hours. Six of the thefts were from Honda Elements and one was from a Honda CRV. These thefts occurred on Jefferson Place, Adair Street, 5th Avenue, Spring Street, Cambridge Avenue and Feld Avenue. Some vehicles were parked in driveways and some were parked on the street. Please pay extra attention to these types of vehicles if you or a neighbor owns one and call police immediately if you see or hear anything suspicious.

If you have information related to the thefts, please call Sgt. Jennifer Ross 404-373-6551.

Chief Mike Booker