Grant Park Security Patrol

By Chris Newman
Baseball season has begun, and many residents of Grant Park enjoy the benefit of walking to the stadium. Unfortunately, there can be problems during and after games as pedestrians walk home or to a vehicle parked on the street. After the first home game, two females were robbed on Georgia Avenue near Phoenix Park. The Atlanta Police Department (APD) has officers patrolling around the stadium, but there are occasional gaps in coverage since this extends onto territory on both sides of the interstate and surrounding neighborhoods. It is advisable to leave the stadium immediately after the game, walk with a group, and always be alert. It is also best to park in a secured lot, since numerous auto larcenies are reported on the side streets near the stadium.
Vehicle larceny continues to be the number one problem here in the Grant Park area with smash and grab especially around the restaurants near Memorial Drive. These crimes take just seconds, and we ask all residents and their guests to be extra cautious and hide valuables out of sight. There had been a cluster of these crimes on the east side near Atlanta and Confederate Avenues.
One of our local bike shops has reported to a Grant Park Security Patrol (GPSP) officer that there is a black male, about 30 years old with medium complexion and a slight beard or goatee, who is bringing bikes to the shop to get estimates for repairs or upgrades. One of the bikes was traced to a theft from a back porch in the neighborhood. The suspect walks with a distinctive limp, and it is even evident when he is riding the bike. Make sure to secure bikes, and call 911 if you see this man in the neighborhood. Please report all these larcenies, since it helps for APD and our neighborhood officers to adjust their patrols.
Thanks to all our members for your continuing support of GPSP. The quarterly payment is $40 per household, and the annual payment is $160. It’s easy to pay online, but 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. Major Keith Meadows has been promoted to commander of Zone 6. Please leave messages for him at the Zone 3 precinct: 404-371-5331. GPSP is a nonprofit corporation run by volunteers. GPSP uses the payments 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 members let GPSP know that they will be out of town, additional attention is paid to their house while they are away. Since GPSP began over 20 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., Paul Harrison of Edward Jones Investments, and Adams Realtors for sponsoring additional patrol hours this quarter. For information about joining GPSP, please email Chris Newman at grantparksecurity@mindspring.com or link to the GPSP site by going to www.gpna.org and clicking on Security Patrol at the top.