Crime & Safety

Decatur Commission To Discuss Crime Spike

The commission has asked the staff for an update on what's being done to stop the spate of robberies.

The Decatur City Commission plans to talk Monday night about the city's recent spate of street crime.

Mayor Jim Baskett said in an email to Patch,

"I think I speak for all of us on the City Commission when I say that we are very troubled by recent events." Some of the police department's efforts can't be revealed, he wrote, but "We have asked the staff to bring us an update on our efforts and will have that discussion at our meeting on April 15. I hope all interested parties will attend."

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Since Feb. 7, police have reported seven robberies in the city. Six were armed robberies, including one restaurant holdup and four incidents in which men stole from women pedestrians.

Patch readers have complained the city government and police have done a bad job of communicating with the public about the crimes. A reader identified as N.G. commented Friday on a story about cell phones being stolen:

Find out what's happening in Decatur-Avondale Estateswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

What I'd like to see is a meaningful, comprehensive and more timely answer from Chief [Mike] Booker regarding what he and his department are doing to address the increase in crime. Hey folks, wake up, this is serious stuff that is happening. It IS NOT just a perception that crime is growing.

A reader identified as decfamily made this comment on the story about the Wahoo! Grill robbery:

With the high taxes I think people expect a level of service and communication and I've always heard good things about the Decatur police - just wondering what their communication channels are. Also are there any security patrols to join?

Police sent out a press release March 18 after the fourth armed robbery, but none since.

Last week Patch asked the chief to discuss the department's crime-fighting strategy, but Booker said he can't talk about it until City Manager Peggy Merriss returns from a conference.

The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in city hall. Residents can watch the meeting on live streaming video on their home computers by going to the city website.

The commission meeting will be broadcast live on Comcast channel 25 and rebroadcast at 2 p.m. Saturday.

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