Auto Thefts on the Rise

By Chris Newman
The month of July saw a dramatic increase in auto theft. There is no particular pattern with both east and west sides of the neighborhood having cars stolen, including one Plymouth van and one Ford Taurus. A “club” is a good investment if you have one for your car. Frequently stolen vehicles are mini-vans, older Chrysler models, and older Hondas and Toyotas.
Vehicle larceny remains high, as again the north side of the neighborhood, along Memorial Drive is a frequent target location. Please do not leave any items in your vehicles that might tempt a criminal.
Thanks for your continuing support of Grant Park Security Patrol (GPSP). A new quarter will start in October, so please pay your dues by the end of September to make sure you stay on the patrol list for the fall quarter. The quarterly payment is $40 per household and the annual payment is now $160. It’s easy to pay online. Or if you’d prefer to receive a hard copy of the invoice with an envelope to pay by mail, just email GPSP. If you are already a member, please encourage a friend or neighbor to join.
And a reminder to all members to notify GPSP if you are changing email addresses. If GPSP does not have your correct address, you will miss crime alerts, invoices, and more. Members who join online can verify their payments at the Security Patrol section of www.gpna.org and also edit email addresses there. Otherwise, send your new email address to grantparksecurity@mindspring.com
If you see anything suspicious happening in the neighborhood at any time, please call 911. If a GPSP officer is on patrol at the time, they will hear the call go out and respond. You can also contact Zone 3 commander Major Reginal Mitchell on his cell phone at 404-273-8178 or by email at rmitchell@atlantaga.gov.
I case you are not familiar with GPSP, it is a non-profit corporation run by volunteers. GPSP uses the dues to hire off-duty police officers to patrol the streets of Grant Park. During each patrol, the GPSP officer will usually pass each member’s house at least three times. If a member lets GPSP know that they will be out of town, additional attention is paid to their house while they are away. Since GPSP began over twenty years ago, burglaries in the neighborhood have dropped by 70%, and some of that dramatic decrease can be attributed to the work of the GPSP officers. The more members GPSP has, the more patrol hours can be afforded, so please join!   There is now a convenient online payment program.  Just go to www.gpna.org and click on Security Patrol at the top. Please let GPSP know how easy/hard or useful you find the online system as it is regularly being tweaked.
Thanks to Botwinick and Botwinick, CPAs; APCO Graphics Inc.; and Adams Realtors for sponsoring additional patrol hours this quarter. And thanks to Linda Jones of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Intown Office for providing photocopying services this quarter.
For information about joining GPSP, please call Chris Newman at 404-586-9590 or email him at grantparksecurity@mindspring.com or link to the GPSP site by going to www.gpna.org and clicking on Security Patrol at the top.