Grant Park Security Patrol

By Linda Jones
The usual summer spike in crime activities has arrived along with the heat. There have been at least five burglaries: Connally Street, Pavillion Street, and Augusta Avenue on the west side of the park and on Berne Street and Atlanta Avenue on the east side.
There have been several auto thefts: one at the Cherokee Avenue zoo parking lot, one on the 700 block of Confederate Avenue, and one near the pool on Park Avenue.
Car break-ins have been high, so remember to leave nothing of value within sight in your car. That didn’t help the owner of a vintage Porsche, however. The car’s four original rims were stolen, leaving the car sitting on blocks.
Kids will be kids? There have been reports of young teens harassing and shaking down younger children on the west side of the neighborhood after the pool closes. Also, be alert to youngsters going door-to-door soliciting for the Boys and Girls Club. This is highly suspect. If you see any of this, alert the police.
Finally, there have been a couple of pedestrian robberies to the east of Grant Park, and the police have a description of the suspect(s). The suspects might be living in the southeast Atlanta area, so be cautious.
If you see anything suspicious happening in the neighborhood at any time, please call 911. If a Grant Park Security Patrol (GSPS) officer is on patrol at the time, he/she will hear the call 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.
Claire Farley, Zone 3 Community Prosecutor with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, encourages us to make a record of the make, model and serial numbers for all electronics. You can store this list yourself or send it to her for safe keeping and get a District Attorney’s Office sticker to place in your window as a deterrent. If interested, contact GPSP for the form and Farley’s contact information.
The third quarter for the Security Patrol started July 1. If you haven’t renewed your dues, please do so soon. If you’re not sure whether you paid quarterly or for the year, you can check on our website or contact the secretary at lindajones@mindspring.com.
If you are a member, make sure 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 updates to grantparksecurity@mindspring.com.  Also, remember to notify GPSP if you are transferring your membership to another street address, so the patrol officers’ list can be kept up to date.
Do you have website or data-entry skills, enjoy writing, or would like to help out in other ways? If so, please think about volunteering your talents for the Security Patrol. GPSP is looking for volunteers to work with the corporate officers on routine tasks and new initiatives. Contact lindajones@mindspring.com for job descriptions of the corporate officers so you can see the types of activities involved.
Thanks to all members for your continuing support. In case you are not familiar with GPSP, it is a nonprofit corporation run by volunteers. Membership costs $40 each quarter or $160 annually. GPSP uses that money 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. 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.
Thanks to Botwinick and Botwinick, CPAs, APCO Graphics Inc., and Adams Realtors for sponsoring additional patrol hours 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.