South DeKalb residents rally against crime
- 6/23/11
- Categorized in: Crime, DeKalb News
Residents along Glenwood Road in south DeKalb say they are tired of the drugs, prostitution and burglaries in that corridor and they have a message for criminals: “Enough is enough.”
That was the mantra during a June 17 anti-crime caravan and rally attended by approximately 200 people.
“It’s time for us to say ‘enough is enough,’” said Sandra Weeks, whose Glenwood area home has been burglarized three times in the 18 years she has lived there.
“We need to take back our community,” said Weeks, who is president of the Greater Glenwood Downs Association. “We are tired of things happening in the community.”
Pastor Victor Belton, of Peace Lutheran Church on Columbia Drive, echoed Weeks’ sentiments.
“We intend to have this community back from this night forward,” Belton said.
Organized by Commissioner Larry Johnson, the “Enough is Enough” campaign was initiated last year to combat the above-average crime in Johnson’s district.
“We’re going to make a difference,” Johnson said. “We’re telling crime, ‘you’ve got to go,’”
By partnering neighborhood associations and local churches with DeKalb law enforcement agencies, Johnson said, the initiative’s goal is to cut crime by 20 percent.
The DeKalb County Police Department is shooting for sustainable results in the initiative, said Maj. Edward Jones, of the department’s south precinct.
“We don’t want to take crime and push it from this side of the street to the other side,” Jones said. “We’re seeing a lot of positive things happening, but this is just a start. We’re going to make this work.”
To aid in that effort, the police department opened a police substation on Glenwood Road an hour before the anti-crime caravan.
DeKalb’s Solicitor General Sherry Boston said her concerns about Glenwood Road are personal.
“I’m concerned about this area because it’s the district that I live in,” Boston said. “On a personal note, I feel strongly about it, but I feel strongly about all of DeKalb.”
Although the community has its share of crime, there is a great bond among residents there, Boston said.
“We have wonderful neighborhoods with wonderful families of people with great values and we want people to know that you can’t commit these crimes where we live,” Boston said. “We’re not going to stand for it.
“We just want to make these streets a safer, better place for everybody to live,” Boston said. “The citizens think enough is enough, but … as the solicitor general, I’m here to say [to criminals] we’re going to prosecute you.”
Another anti-crime event is being planned for Candler Road in July.
Since he has been Commissioner of that area, it has decline. Get someone in office that's going to make positive change. Larry is not the one to bring it back.
Soon they will be popping the hoods of our cars to get at our radiators. They already climb under trucks to get the catalytic converters.
Also Business Lisence for "salvagers" !
All For Show !
Larry Johnson and the Enough is Enough Crew rocks!
We appreciate all of the uplifting comments!
Since reducing crime in an area like this requires a sustained effort of many groups, I'm not optimistic about any change, let alone a lasting change. And if I had a nickel for every person on the news whose talked about "taking back their community" and saying "enough is enough" and "no more violence", well I'd at least be able to buy a gallon of gas!
Rallies and protests are easy but they don't accomplish anything. The police are too busy going from call to call to do anything proactive. Or else their superiors are hounding them to write more traffic tickets. The South Precinct is Candler and Glenwood, so what the heck is a substation on Glenwood supposed to accomplish?
This is decline and decay folks. Get used to it. Unless the demographics of this area change drastically, Central and South DeKalb will continue to be havens for crime.
Let's see what that rally on June 17th has accomplished so far.
Along Glenwood Road from Atlanta city limits to 285 during the week of June 11 through June 17 there were 5 shoplifting, 1 car break-in, 1 armed robbery, 1 theft, 1 aggravated assault, 1 car theft, 2 disorderly conduct, 1 damage to property, 1 carrying a concealed weapon, 2 simple assault/battery, and 1 burglary.
Then during the week of June 18 through June 24 there were 2 loitering for drugs, 1 larceny, 1 disorderly conduct, 4 simple assault/battery, 1 burglary, 1 armed robbery, 1 criminal trespass, 2 damage to property, and 2 car break-ins.
That's just the crimes reported and only with addresses on Glenwood Road.