DeKalb makes pitch to retain Tucker police services within county

DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson Interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick and COO Zach Williams gave a presentation on Nov about Tucker s crime and policing efforts Photo by Stephanie Toone A DeKalb County meeting on community safety in the Tucker area claimed that a latest police feasibility examination left out key considerations that may make the formation of the city s own department untenable The opinion was based on the input and insights DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson Interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick and COO Zach Williams offered in the Nov meeting which was hosted by Tucker Civic Association The DeKalb County executives shared details with about residents and Tucker authorities on current crime trends future and current mechanism resolutions to crime and plans to have more police staff and vehicles present to protect Tucker homes and businesses My administration and the Board of Commissioners are committed to working hand in hand with the City of Tucker and its residents to ensure their population safety requirements are met and we expect continued improvements in response times and overall organization delivery Cochran-Johnson commented in a declaration The presentation was a response to September s Tucker-Northlake CID feasibility survey which estimated that a new police department for Tucker would cost around million The county presentation revealed several oversights that would make the cost significantly higher Williams noted for instance that the cost for pension benefits which were not considered in the CID research would run between to million depending on various factors like years of utility The county projects that housing allowances also not included in the investigation would total about annually for the Tucker precinct officers living in the city Several oversights in the CID inquiry significantly affect cost projections and undermine the accuracy of the content including pension retirement training recruitment ammunition mental medical housing allowances ongoing machinery commitment special facility divisions and more Cochran-Johnson reported The CID analysis and the county findings aligned on the ongoing issues with urgency response times and concerning crime trends on Main Street and Juliette Road Tucker s total number of crimes increased slightly from from January to July of to incidents for that same period in Crime details presented in DeKalb County s City of Tucker overview presentation Provided by DeKalb County You guys have a matter with emerging and entering autos burglaries on Juliette Road and auto thefts Cochran-Johnson noted during the meeting adding that the Main Street corridor has had repeated instances of break-ins That is where we see the major crimes and that is where we re focusing major attention The county invested million in E- upgrades to provide state-of-the-art call-taking and dispatching which has improved the county s overall on-site call response times by more than percent in eight months The county is in the present working on mobile units a million Real Time Crime Center and digital surveillance that would add more than cameras and drones across DeKalb County including several planned for Tucker The advanced digital surveillance would be geared toward deterring criminals away from targeting Tucker businesses Padrick described attendees at the meeting Thursday night DeKalb County Police Department will also hire two population amenity aides police staff who would address minor safety issues in Tucker The CSAs would address traffic accidents without injuries stolen bus reports and handle other non-life-threatening issues We also use them for different events traffic direction road closures things of that nature where it doesn t tie up an officer that can respond to a higher priority call Padrick noted Related story DeKalb County approves M ambulance contract to improve response times Other constituents safety tactics DeKalb County Police Department will institute Continue to deploy patrol units in historically high-crime areas identified on the hot spot maps with special emphasis on the Juliette Road corridor for property crimes and Main Street for stolen motorcycle incidents Establish daily Population Provision Aide patrol rotations in the Business District during business hours Increase visibility by strategically parking county vehicles in front of businesses with lights activated for deterrence Assign CSAs to take reports by phone to help reduce pending call volume Schedule strategic officer walk-throughs in retail centers parks and high-traffic population spaces to provide a visible deterrent and enhance population engagement Place marked patrol cars even unattended in crime-prone areas as a deterrent Simone Paisley a Tucker resident for more than years stated she was pleased to hear that the county would be investing in mechanism to combat crime along with adding the CSAs Though she understands her neighbors desire for a department the presentation helped her see the bigger picture A city like Tucker cannot invest and continue to invest that money not just in the innovation and the manpower Once you have a police department you have to continue those staff and you re going to have attrition you re going to have people quit I m hoping that this was just the beginning of adding awareness The post DeKalb makes pitch to retain Tucker police services within county appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta