Second Murder at Five Points Station in the same week (Atlanta: condo, crime rates)

[ecuresident]

Originally Posted by BringBackCobain

Mayor Reed is looking more and more like a one-term mayor by the minute...

Wow, give the guy a break, he ha only been in office for a couple of months, and gotten quite a lot done at that in such a short time. The fundamental problems is Marta has and continues to lose money. So where is the money going to come from to increase security? I am sure it costs a lot more to increase security than few hundred (probably a lot less) riders marta will lose through some crime. Most of the people in Atlanta that ride Marta are people that have to and not that want to.

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by ecuresident

Wow, give the guy a break, he ha only been in office for a couple of months, and gotten quite a lot done at that in such a short time. The fundamental problems is Marta has and continues to lose money. So where is the money going to come from to increase security? I am sure it costs a lot more to increase security than few hundred (probably a lot less) riders marta will lose through some crime. Most of the people in Atlanta that ride Marta are people that have to and not that want to.

I was thinking the same thing myself. There have been a lot of threads about 'Five Points'--I can only assume that TPTB are aware of the problem. There doesn't seem to be a quick or easy solution. I honestly don't keep up with all the finer points of what the City of Atlanta has done/is doing to try to address this issue--which seems to a large degree to be 'The Homeless'.

I assume this is also connected to economic issues---high unemployment. There doesn't seem to be a quick fix for that either.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by TakeAhike

I was thinking the same thing myself. There have been a lot of threads about 'Five Points'--I can only assume that TPTB are aware of the problem. There doesn't seem to be a quick or easy solution. I honestly don't keep up with all the finer points of what the City of Atlanta has done/is doing to try to address this issue--which seems to a large degree to be 'The Homeless'.

I assume this is also connected to economic issues---high unemployment. There doesn't seem to be a quick fix for that either.

Hire more cops.

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Hire more cops.

They would have to be paid. $$$--seems to be a major factor?

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Hire more cops.

APD has hired at least 200 more police officers. Right now they are in training and won't be out on the streets until the spring. The Mayor wants a total of 900 more by the end of his term. Reed has made the city better financially (of course there is more to do), but still it's very possible he could afford to reach his goal.

And MARTA doesn't need money (or a lot of it) to put a large chunk of their current police force at Five Points... but even if they did their police force is pretty useless. They need to crack down on the laziness of most of their "cops". I wonder if APD can do anything? I'd like to see more police Downtown and around the Five Points/Underground area. They should be walking around, riding bikes, and/or on horses.

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

As much as I hate to say this, but Atlanta is on its way to become more like Detroit than like Tokyo. I hate to turn my back on my own city, but if things keep going the way they are, I might just have to move back to California instead, since it is becoming more clear that California is more like Japan with its safety and other similarities.

Of course a crime wave with 5 killings in one week is nothing unusual for Atlanta, but it is more common in the summer months. Also, the fact that it is the first week of the new year will give people an impression that it is a sign for how the entire year will be. Hypothetically speaking, if it continues at this rate, 5 killings per week X 52 weeks = 260 killings for the entire year, which Atlanta has had before, back in the crack epidemic days. Hopefully 2011 won't be that bad, but I think it will easily pass 2010's totals (whatever that is, I think its just over 100).

Whoa, let's not go there. Atlanta has a very long way to become like Detroit and are you forgetting all the strides the city has made in the last 10 years? With all the people that have moved into the city, there is too much at stake now to let it decline like that. The demographics of the city have changed a lot (for the better). Unfortunately, the Five Points/Underground area is still a little on the sketchy side people wise, but it has been like that and there is still hope that things in that area will change. I get annoyed too, but it takes time for big changes to occur. Also, it's not like the nice areas are turning into slums.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by mike7586

Whoa, let's not go there. Atlanta has a very long way to become like Detroit and are you forgetting all the strides the city has made in the last 10 years? With all the people that have moved into the city, there is too much at stake now to let it decline like that. The demographics of the city have changed a lot (for the better). Unfortunately, the Five Points/Underground area is still a little on the sketchy side people wise, but it has been like that and there is still hope that things in that area will change. I get annoyed too, but it takes time for big changes to occur. Also, it's not like the nice areas are turning into slums.

I have to agree. You can't generalize about a city becasue some areas have crime problems. What's going on at Five Points is in no way representative of life in Midtown, Buckhead, Emory, Cumberland, Perimeter, or the vast majority of Atlanta.

What you can say is that certain specific areas have a problem with crime. That stinks and it needs to be fixed. The best solution would be for the selfish knuckleheads who are committing these crimes to simply stop doing it.

[cabasse]

went to the thrashers game last night - rode marta from lenox and back, and saw quite a few cops riding the trains (both ways) and standing on the platform at lenox, walking through the crowds waiting for the train at 5pts and gwcc. from that limited experience, they seem to be stepping it up, and i hope they continue...

[tomno00]

Originally Posted by ecuresident

Wow, give the guy a break, he ha only been in office for a couple of months, and gotten quite a lot done at that in such a short time. The fundamental problems is Marta has and continues to lose money. So where is the money going to come from to increase security? I am sure it costs a lot more to increase security than few hundred (probably a lot less) riders marta will lose through some crime. Most of the people in Atlanta that ride Marta are people that have to and not that want to.

Hiring more cops is an investment and investmetns dont always show signs of profitablility until a few years down the road. Everyone in Atlanta knows how MARTA is perceived and crap like this only adds fuel to the fire (and rightfully so). Change the perception. This starts with security.

[JayMcFly]

This train station sounds like a deadly place. Very serious for people to fighting on train platforms.