Atlanta- Dangerous and Getting More Dangerous Daily! (Mableton, Jackson: transplants, crimes)

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Are you serious about this? Law abiding citizens being the victims of crime isn't a new thing. Having lived in this city my whole life I'm with youngmj, things have never been better. Keep in mind that saying that isn't equal to saying people should "just get over it" when it comes to crime in the city. People should just stop acting like Atlanta has become some sort of lawless pee-pee hole.

I'm not sure how you got "people should just get over it" out of my quote.

Someone was suggesting that in the past, a large percentage of the crime wasn't committed against middle class whites, so people ignored it, but once middle class whites started to become victims, suddenly it's news.

My rebuttal was that this isn't the case. ANY law abiding tax paying citizen (white, black, or "other") who has been the victim of a crime is usually brought to light in the news - it was the druggies shooting druggies that in the past wasn't always reported as much. Much of that still isn't reported due to the sheer amount of it, and honestly, I don't think many people care of the druggies are shooting each other - they just don't want it to happen in their area or for them to be in the crossfire.

I've been in Atlanta since 1984 and disagree with "things have never been better". In the past you always had a share of break-ins in certain intown neighborhoods, and car breaks-ins are an issue in any city, but you did not have home invasions when the occupants were home, nor did you have SUVs full of guys pull up, and the guys jump out to mug/rob pedestrians with AK47s. This is a newer trend (for here), and does not indicate "better times" than in the past regarding crime here.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

I've been in Atlanta since 1984 and disagree with "things have never been better". In the past you always had a share of break-ins in certain intown neighborhoods, and car breaks-ins are an issue in any city, but you did not have home invasions when the occupants were home, nor did you have SUVs full of guys pull up, and the guys jump out to mug/rob pedestrians with AK47s. This is a newer trend (for here), and does not indicate "better times" than in the past regarding crime here.

I agree with Greg. 25 years ago in Atlanta (I was living here), you never saw the laundry list of shootings, robberies, and car jackings on TV that you see today. We never saw this level of crime or gun violence in the northeast, even just two years ago. My wife actually commented the other day "how violent" things seem to be here in the south.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I agree with Greg. 25 years ago in Atlanta (I was living here), you never saw the laundry list of shootings, robberies, and car jackings on TV that you see today. We never saw this level of crime or gun violence in the northeast, even just two years ago. My wife actually commented the other day "how violent" things seem to be here in the south.

Well that is true and the recent wave of crime is very disturbing, however this is very well one the worst recessions and very bad economic times and it leads to crime. Also we have to deal with instant access via the internet, multiple news channels and 24 hour cycles.

Our ability to access such information, so readily has made us much more informed than in the past 25 years. So statistically speaking crime and even the types of crimes committed today is MUCH lower, our access to media and information is just more available.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Are you serious about this? Law abiding citizens being the victims of crime isn't a new thing. Having lived in this city my whole life I'm with youngmj, things have never been better. Keep in mind that saying that isn't equal to saying people should "just get over it" when it comes to crime in the city. People should just stop acting like Atlanta has become some sort of lawless pee-pee hole.

Perhaps it's always been such?

Compared to the 3.5-million-person metro area that I moved here from, the level of crime in the somewhat larger Atlanta metro is absolutely staggering.

I think there's always room for improvement, and some of the headline-grabbing incidents which have happened recently seem to indicate some real issues in this area. It seems that more police presence is needed ... right now the cops don't seem to be a deterrent at all to some of these people...

[youngMichaelJackson]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I agree with Greg. 25 years ago in Atlanta (I was living here), you never saw the laundry list of shootings, robberies, and car jackings on TV that you see today. We never saw this level of crime or gun violence in the northeast, even just two years ago. My wife actually commented the other day "how violent" things seem to be here in the south.

All due respect but...............
You and Greg are smoking on that Bob Marley if you think there is more crime here nowadays than back in the 80's and early 90's. I find it hilarious having this debate with people who are "newly arrived" to Atlanta and furthermore probably have never even lived in or near a high crime area. And I actually find it somewhat offensive because you are in effect on the outside looking in, but yet you feel like you know what is going on. Like in the thread a few pages back about the Red Dog APD Unit, I bet 90% of those people who commented on behalf of the unit have never even come into contact with that particular unit. You are basically on the outside looking in, I grew up around the corner from Kimberley Courts, went to school with kids from Carver Homes, Oakland City, Joyland, Pittsburgh, etc....played rec league basketball at Dunbar Communtiy Center in the heart of McDaniel Glen. I didnt see this stuff on the news, it was apart of my childhood

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by youngMichaelJackson

All due respect but...............
You and Greg are smoking on that Bob Marley if you think there is more crime here nowadays than back in the 80's and early 90's. I find it hilarious having this debate with people who are "newly arrived" to Atlanta and furthermore probably have never even lived in or near a high crime area. And I actually find it somewhat offensive because you are in effect on the outside looking in, but yet you feel like you know what is going on. Like in the thread a few pages back about the Red Dog APD Unit, I bet 90% of those people who commented on behalf of the unit have never even come into contact with that particular unit. You are basically on the outside looking in, I grew up around the corner from Kimberley Courts, went to school with kids from Carver Homes, Oakland City, Joyland, Pittsburgh, etc....played rec league basketball at Dunbar Communtiy Center in the heart of McDaniel Glen. I didnt see this stuff on the news, it was apart of my childhood

youngMichael... you need to tone it down - by a good bit. You can disagree with other's comments as much as you like - but you're getting awfully close to attacking comments and those are entirely different things.

And for the record - I moved here in 1984 (as stated earlier). I have lived near downtown before, as well as in the Virginia Highlands, Midtown, Buckhead, Roswell Road, and Brookhaven areas, before I migrated to the suburbs. So I do have some knowledge of the city during that quarter of a centurn span of time - thanks.

[youngMichaelJackson]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

youngMichael... you need to tone it down - by a good bit. You can disagree with other's comments as much as you like - but you're getting awfully close to attacking comments and those are entirely different things.

And for the record - I moved here in 1984 (as stated earlier). I have lived near downtown before, as well as in the Virginia Highlands, Midtown, Buckhead, Roswell Road, and Brookhaven areas, before I migrated to the suburbs. So I do have some knowledge of the city during that quarter of a centurn span of time - thanks.

I feel you, and your point in regards to my tone is well taken, Trust. And I will "tone it down" so to speak. But I just get hot under the collar when people assume they know what is going in areas that they have little first hand knowledge of...so I feel that my point of view should be respected as well in any debate along the lines of this subject matter

[noah]

Good points. The coverage of these events is like nothing we saw in the past. We often see people who get so scared of their communities because of what they are seeing on tv (And its not just Atlanta or even big cities). People talk about when they were a kid as if the world was perfect and now they can't let their kids go anywhere or do anything. As parents people worry more and are more aware then they were as kids. I think that, in combination with the current media contributes to these views on crime.

This is not to say crime is not out there, especially in such down times in the economy. Does anyone know how crime was in 2008 say, compared to 2005 or 2000.

Originally Posted by onemanarmy

Well that is true and the recent wave of crime is very disturbing, however this is very well one the worst recessions and very bad economic times and it leads to crime. Also we have to deal with instant access via the internet, multiple news channels and 24 hour cycles.

Our ability to access such information, so readily has made us much more informed than in the past 25 years. So statistically speaking crime and even the types of crimes committed today is MUCH lower, our access to media and information is just more available.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by youngMichaelJackson

I find it hilarious having this debate with people who are "newly arrived" to Atlanta and furthermore probably have never even lived in or near a high crime area.

I have lived in Atlanta on an off for 12 years, starting in 1982, so I'm far from "newly arrived," and I don't need to live in a high crime area to discuss crime.

[youngMichaelJackson]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I have lived in Atlanta on an off for 12 years, starting in 1982, so I'm far from "newly arrived," and I don't need to live in a high crime area to discuss crime.

I hear you but the numbers themselves dont lie, when you moved here in 1982 Atlanta was averaging almost 300 murders a year, last year in 2008 there were not even 150 murders. In 1988 there were more armed robberies per capita in Atlanta than any other city in America, that is not the case now. In the late 80's and early 90's there were a number of very violent drug gangs in the city like the Boobie Boys in Herdon Homes, Down by Law in Eastlake, the Alley Boys from Carver Homes, D4L in Bowen Homes and Hightower (yes that bubble gum pop record label was anything but that back in the day) just to name a few. These little crews full of dread headed teenagers running around these days like 30 Deep and MDC who sell nickel bags of drugs and break into stores and steal clothes are no where near as bad as the crews and drug gangs of the 80's and early 90's that would literally go into their respective areas and shoot anything that moved. They used to have shoot outs in Techwood that were so bad the cops wouldnt even come into the complex until the SWAT team arrived. These breaking and enterings coupled with a smash and grab here or there you see on the news these days pale in comparison to the things that went on back then