Drug Crackdown (Atlanta, Griffin: sale, 2015, apartment complex)

[afdinatl]

Crackdown begins on Atlanta open-air drug market - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Good luck with that....

Atlanta law enforcement officials on Wednesday launched a crackdown on the drug market just blocks away from the new Atlanta Falcons stadium, the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center.
The English Avenue neighborhood is well known as having one of the largest open-air heroin markets in the Southeastern United States, federal investigators say.




Officers from the U.S. Attorney's office, Atlanta Police, Fulton County District Attorney and Georgia Department said they would begin on Aug. 19 to demolish blighted properties in the community. In addition, properties identified as being used to sell drugs are being seized by federal investigators.

[AnsleyPark]

Good.

[glovenyc]

About time, I've seen many of these type of neighborhoods revitalized. Where there is a will (and $$$), there is a way.

[residinghere2007]

Finally!!!

Odd though that this didn't happen until the new stadium started being built and proposed.

Residents have been pulling hair trying to get them to demolish the abandoned, some burned out buildings.

Some drug busts have occurred. A few of the abandoned apartment buildings near my house were raided and have sense been left without drug activity (now just a bunch of trash and homeless people with fire hazards in the winter). But I and some of my neighbors personally told police about drug activity on many occasions that still needed to be rectified. Especially in the area near the former Kennedy St and Brawley intersection and Kennedy/English Ave.

Police would just park their cars there a few days a week to disturb trafficking but after they left it just picked right back up. Hopefully they'll start raiding and getting rid of the activity for good.

It is hard for them though as many of the businesses in that area and a store on Griffin St and North Ave are rumored to sell drugs out of their stores. From APD officers I talked to, it can take years to build a good case on these large drug traffickers and the low level dealers usually bond out of jail and just come back within a month or so to their spot anyway.

So we'll see if this will actually get something accomplished.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by residinghere2007

Finally!!!

Odd though that this didn't happen until the new stadium started being built and proposed.

Residents have been pulling hair trying to get them to demolish the abandoned, some burned out buildings.

Hey we all know a clean-up is not intended for the benefit of the neighborhood's residents, it's about the almighty dollar and protecting that $2B investment down the road. I knew this was coming after I read the article about Dan Cathy (Chick-Fil A dude?) complaining about the blight around the stadium. He discussed the nation's perception if we were to get a Super Bowl, and the Goodyear blimp were to show some of those neighborhoods that look like a third world country.

Don't get me wrong I welcome a clean-up, but also I am not going to kid myself either

[onemanarmy]

This was already in progress. They also had an operation, where they rounded up all the known drug dealers. Federal prosecutors provided them with the evidence they collected against and the unsigned warrants for their arrest, if they continue to sale drugs. This was a federal program, where their conviction was almost a certainty. I wonder what came of this, because the article stated this was effective in other cities.

[ATLTJL]

But I thought the Bluff wasn't as bad as everybody says and Vine City was on the upswing?

You can have drugs anywhere, certainly. But an open-air drug market? Sheesh....

That's awesome and terrible at the same time.

[arjay57]

Wonder where the dealers and the customers will resettle?

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

But I thought the Bluff wasn't as bad as everybody says and Vine City was on the upswing?

You can have drugs anywhere, certainly. But an open-air drug market? Sheesh....

That's awesome and terrible at the same time.

It is not as bad as it used to be. I lived in English Avenue for 5 years and I never had any issues with crime, I had very nice older neighbors who were stable and there is a small but involved group of residents who fight the good fight in the neighborhood.

Vine City IMO, is in an upswing. They have the benefit of 2 MARTA stations (Vine City and Ashby), new condo and townhome developments, the new Walmart and a revitalized commercial core on MLK (between Northside Drive and Lowery Blvd.) English Avenue doesn't have the ammenities of Vine City and I do feel that is why Vine City is ahead in this regard. English Avenue doesn't have a MARTA station (closest is Bankhead, which is not in the neighborhood). There is no major commercial district. It formerly was Kennedy St and Brawley (formerly Chestnut) but that is now the area where the majority of drug activity occurs.

That said, drug activity has actually decreased and I could tell within 2 years of moving there. Especially after Kathryn Johnston's death in 2009 APD really focused on cleaning up that area. That is why the apartment complex behind my house was busted (on Paine St). Drug activity now is concentrated on the Kennedy corridor. That has always been the center of activity in English Ave, but there used to be other parts of the neighborhood that were "open air drug markets" and outright prostitute central. You don't see as much in your face action anymore and APD does have a presence in the neighborhood.

As stated police have informed residents via NPU and neighborhood associations that it is difficult getting drugs out of the neighborhood completely and that it takes multiple years to build a case. The OP article stated for one of the cases they are working on they have been gathering evidence since 2005. If they go to court with crappy evidence, high level drug dealers, who have the money for expensive lawyers, will get off and be back out onto the street so it really does take a good amount of time and a huge amount of evidence to put these people away.

I am confident that just demolishing the buildings will be of help for the neighborhood. Drug dealers and addicts will have less places to hide. I'll review the court filings in the OP link later but I really do hope that they focus on demolishing all the empty apartment buildings as a lot of activity still takes place in them, especially around Griffin Street, which was mentioned in the article. There are at least (let me count) 5 abandoned multi-family housing apartments near my property that sorely need to be demolished.

[glovenyc]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Wonder where the dealers and the customers will resettle?

lets hope prison for the dealers, and rehab for the customers.