Tour the New 911 Center/Grant Park Security Patrol

By Chris Newman
The Grant Park Security Patrol (GSPS) has scheduled a tour of the 911 Center for Saturday May 18 at 10:00am. GSPS must limit this to about 15 so please RSVP to grantparksecurity@mindspring.com and let GSPS know that you’d like to attend. If there is more interest, we’ll schedule another tour for later in the summer.
GSPS continues to remind residents and their guests to keep cars clean. With patrols at night the neighborhood seems to be having a decrease in vehicle larcenies but as warmer springtime weather approaches GSPS typically sees an increase in these crimes. Also there will be many visitors to the park and the zoo during spring vacations and that increased traffic presents an opportunity for thieves.
Baseball season has started so GSPS reminds residents who walk to Turner field to be careful when walking home after the games. Try to walk with a group and leave the ballpark immediately after the game. In past years there have been robberies near Phoenix Park on Georgia Avenue.
With the current level of support GSPS is able to continue with the weekend patrols Friday to Sunday. Sgt. Bailey, Officer Davis and Officer Sluss will be here from about 6 until 10 or 11pm, and occasionally from 10pm until 2am. Our officers log in to the Zone 6 dispatch and respond to all 911 calls in our neighborhood. It is important that you call 911 if you see suspicious activities.
Thanks to all members for continuing support of GPSP. The second quarter payment of $40 per household is due now. Members who pay annually will be sent an email reminder when payment is due. 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.
GPSP has have converted to an email notification system so it is important to let GPSP know of any changes of email addresses. If you are still receiving a paper copy of the newsletter and invoice, GPSP asks that you consider the switch. It has greatly streamlined volunteer hours.
In case you are not familiar with GPSP, it is a non-profit 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. Please let GPSP know how useful you find the online system as it is regularly being tweaked.
Many thanks to Botwinick and Bowinick, APCO Graphics, Paul Harriosn of Edward Jones Investing, Oldfield HOA, and Adams Realtors for sponsoring additional patrol hours.