Washington Park / Alden Street carjackings: Warning story. (Atlanta, Franklin: live, gangs)

[atl-gal]

The police keep citing that overall, violent crime is down in Atlanta while property crime is up. I don't doubt their statistics, but what I think has changed is who the crimes are being committed against. In the past, it was likely thug against thug, so the murders may have been less newsworthy since people have grown accustomed to gang bangers shooting each other up. We've had many of these people move to the suburbs and now you hear about these crimes being committed outside of the city while also continuing in the city at perhaps a lesser rate.

But what it seems has changed (at least to me), is that the crimes are now being committed more against the average guy -- people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We hear more about these stories because they are more alarming to average citizens who are not involved in the gun/gang/drug/etc culture which seems to be used to these crimes. Our neighbors are being attacked; our friends are being carjacked; our homes are being broken into more brazenly; our stores are being robbed by gangs of thugs with no apparent concern for being caught.

This is where I see the increase in crime. The overall stats may be down. But it's much more noticeable now because common citizens are the targets.

[atlantagreg30127]

I have a feeling this guy didn't feel the crime against him was "perceived" (video): Video (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/20194946/ - broken link)

Happened a few days ago. Sounds like it wasn't far from the Washington Park area, but not sure what the official boundaries are there.

The most disturbing thing about this latest generation of thugs, is that in the past if you complied, they took your stuff and left you alone. But with at least two of the GA Tech robberies, and now this guy, we're seeing a new trend - you hand them your stuff and they shoot you anyway. This is what will cause more people to gun-sling and try to protect themselves. In a vague way, it's like terrorism on an airplane. In years past, a terrorist would hijack a plane and just take it somewhere to make their demands. Then came 9/11, and the rules changed - they just flew the planes into buildings. Now, when passengers see someone go nuts, they tackle them and take them down right then and there on the plane. Again a loose comparison, but expect the same with these robberies... once people know they're going to be harmed anyway regardless of if they comply or not, they'll start fighting back rather than comply. It might not be the safest thing to do, but it's instinct for many.

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by atl-gal

The police keep citing that overall, violent crime is down in Atlanta while property crime is up. I don't doubt their statistics, but what I think has changed is who the crimes are being committed against. In the past, it was likely thug against thug, so the murders may have been less newsworthy since people have grown accustomed to gang bangers shooting each other up. We've had many of these people move to the suburbs and now you hear about these crimes being committed outside of the city while also continuing in the city at perhaps a lesser rate.

But what it seems has changed (at least to me), is that the crimes are now being committed more against the average guy -- people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We hear more about these stories because they are more alarming to average citizens who are not involved in the gun/gang/drug/etc culture which seems to be used to these crimes. Our neighbors are being attacked; our friends are being carjacked; our homes are being broken into more brazenly; our stores are being robbed by gangs of thugs with no apparent concern for being caught.

This is where I see the increase in crime. The overall stats may be down. But it's much more noticeable now because common citizens are the targets.

That's what happens when you take down all of the projects all at once. You can take person from an absolutely crappy environment and put him/her into a tranquil suburb but it doesn't mean that the chaos that was created in their minds goes away. Some people actually like that lifestyle or at the very least don't have a strong will change and adapt to new one, not willingly anyways.

I can only see three solutions happening:
1) Georgia gets draconian (more than usual) and creates a 3 strikes and you're out type of deal like California had once, along with enabling people to legally carry firearms in ALL parts of Georgia, schools included.

2) We'll continue to endure the pains from this generation's batch of losers and hope that the children they spawn(ed) will hopefully adapt to the new suburban lifestyle.

3) The upper echelons from the community where these losers are born will finally get off their butts and put some more personally accountability to these folks, use a combination of massive scale social outreach programs thru the church and aggressive ostracization from the mainstream to force compliance. Basically the carrot and stick approach, 21st century style.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the 3rd solution though...

[atlantagreg30127]

Latest video on a meeting held at the City between public and officials today: Video (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/20206473/index.html - broken link)

[vsmoove]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

3) The upper echelons from the community where these losers are born will finally get off their butts and put some more personally accountability to these folks, use a combination of massive scale social outreach programs thru the church and aggressive ostracization from the mainstream to force compliance. Basically the carrot and stick approach, 21st century style.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the 3rd solution though...

Not to start a whole different discussion, but this point bugs me... this is a problem for the entire city, state and nation... it's not up to one "community" to fix this. The causes are deep seated and violence has existed in these neighborhoods way before the current generational culture began...

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by atl-gal

The police keep citing that overall, violent crime is down in Atlanta while property crime is up. I don't doubt their statistics, but what I think has changed is who the crimes are being committed against. In the past, it was likely thug against thug, so the murders may have been less newsworthy since people have grown accustomed to gang bangers shooting each other up. We've had many of these people move to the suburbs and now you hear about these crimes being committed outside of the city while also continuing in the city at perhaps a lesser rate.

But what it seems has changed (at least to me), is that the crimes are now being committed more against the average guy -- people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We hear more about these stories because they are more alarming to average citizens who are not involved in the gun/gang/drug/etc culture which seems to be used to these crimes. Our neighbors are being attacked; our friends are being carjacked; our homes are being broken into more brazenly; our stores are being robbed by gangs of thugs with no apparent concern for being caught.

This is where I see the increase in crime. The overall stats may be down. But it's much more noticeable now because common citizens are the targets.

The big difference is that we have people roaming the streets searching for random victims. For residents, this is a lot more troublesome because you cannot necessarily avoid crime by avoiding the bad areas.

It seems to me that these people are targeting the streets of the city because they believe they can get away with it so its a matter of perception on the part of the criminals as well.

[Merin]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Latest video on a meeting held at the City between public and officials today: Video (http://www.wsbtv.com/video/20206473/index.html - broken link)

Did you watch it? The police want to respond by getting rid of the perception that crime is down?? Someone got shot in Edgewood yesterday taking his girlfriends groceries in her house???

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Merin

Did you watch it? The police want to respond by getting rid of the perception that crime is down?? Someone got shot in Edgewood yesterday taking his girlfriends groceries in her house???

Yeah, the police spokespeople aren't looking too hot about right now.

I believe this is a more politically-leaning site, but they do quote some interesting stats when it comes to the least safe cities near the bottom of the article: RealClearPolitics - America's Safest Cities

I wonder if Pennington spokespeople have read the FBI stats? Probably not. It was only a few years ago that the FBI investigated around 20,000 (that's thousands, no extra 0s added) crimes that were not reported by the APD into the FBI database properly. Pennington said it was a "clerical error".

As a side-note: Update on the home invasion where a woman was shot during a robbery in front of her kids in Clayton. Now, truth be told, robberies in Clayton isn't as earth-shattering in the news as what's been happening lately downtown, but the point is that the crime wave isn't JUST downtown - it's hitting in the burbs, and as discussed earlier, they seem to be getting much more violent even if the victims comply: http://www.wsbtv.com/video/20214048/index.html (broken link)

[AcidSnake]

Originally Posted by vsmoove

Not to start a whole different discussion, but this point bugs me... this is a problem for the entire city, state and nation... it's not up to one "community" to fix this. The causes are deep seated and violence has existed in these neighborhoods way before the current generational culture began...

Then allow me to put this potential sidebar discussion to rest by making this observation: In case you haven't notice, the other communities don't seem too particular interested in the problems of inner city youth and the thuggery they presented, at least not to the extent of solving them. A layman's observation of the political & social structure of Georgia should be more than enough to confirm that.

But yes I agree: holistically speaking, other communities should care. Just don't expect for that to happen anytime soon this century or next, save for a near apocalypse. It will still fall upon the community that birthed these miscreants to deal with them. Otherwise a harsher, more draconian police state-like solution will be coming down the pipeline, and no one really wins in that scenario.

[IMISSNY]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

Maybe this will add a little bit more urgency to these politicians when it comes down to the ballot box near this year's end. We cannot afford for things to be business as usual in Atlanta.

We need a Rudolph Guiliani-type approach to the crime situation here and a politician that is willing to call it like he or she sees it.

Rudolph Guiliani - I didnt know he had a cousin in Atlanta