Virginia-Highland Safety Team Report: October 2, 2012
By: John Wolfinger
A busy couple of weeks ahead with special events, so make your driving plans accordingly. First of all is the Breast Cancer Walk with 800 walking ladies in pink costumes on 10/ 6 and 7. They have a good time walking for a serious cause, and would like to have cheering throngs along the walk route, which John Becker of the VOICE has meticulously detailed at https://vahi.org/10th-anniversary-breast-cancer-walk-coming-to-vahi-seeks-supporters Thank you John for having more patience than I do for listing all the streets involved. This does not involve any street closings.
Then also on 10/7 is a repeat of last spring’s very successful Streets Alive here in VaHi and other neighborhoods along North Highland south of us. Details at http://www.atlantastreetsalive.com/ This does involve the closing of North Highland and Virginia Avenues for this day only.
The Atlanta Pride festival will be 10/13 and 10/14 in Piedmont Park. Their website at www.atlantapride.org/ does little if anything to address traffic/parking for this event – other than to warn participants not to drive to the festival, and we all know how little this means. Tenth Street will have one lane closing next to the park for Friday, Saturday and Sunday – but this street will still have other lanes for traffic except on Sunday when the parade arrives at the park. The festival organizers have told me to advise using 911 to report traffic/parking problems as usual, and these reports will be forwarded to the off-duty police working the area on motorcycles. They will be posting the usual cardboard “No Parking ” signs on the usual streets for this time period.
I don’t think that most of the neighborhood, except for the areas abutting Piedmont Park, realize what folks near the park have to endure with the continual schedule of special events/festivals in Piedmont Park. I went to the open house event at Fort Mac a couple of Saturdays ago hoping to learn more about the proposed dedicated festival grounds at this massive facility, but this project still seems to be years away from becoming reality. In the meantime Piedmont Park will be over-used and abused.
Also on 10/14 is the Morningside Mile Run http://www.morningsidemile.com/ , but this is early in the morning and only affects North Highland Avenue, so should not be a big traffic problem. This also is for a very good cause – our AFR Station # 19 renovation.
Officer Woolfolk on the News
I’m sure many of you remember Officer Ralph Woolfolk who succeded Officer Joe Cooper on the evening watch (3 to 11 p.m.) here. After he left us he was assigned to the Boulevard Strike Force, but has now moved on to the COPS division (http://www.atlantapd.org/c.o.p.s.aspx ). Thanx to Kay Stephenson for alerting me to a channel 11 news clip – http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1865452639001 featuring Woolfolk at Turner Field last week – he’s a natural on TV, and represented APD well.
October St. Charles/Highland Business Area Cleanup
Go to https://www.facebook.com/KeepVirginiaHighlandBeautiful for details on this newly formed group dedicated to making our business districts cleaner and more inviting both to residents and to our many, many visitors. Sign up on this Facebook page to help with this ambitious project on 10/20 – especially erasing the rest of the graffiti vandalism on the back sides of the old Hilan Theater. This would be a good way for high school kids to get some of their community service hours. Jimmy Lee and I would welcome some younger and more agile help with the graffiti
Fulton County Court improvements
A court improvement task force has been meeting and working on suggested court improvements for a year and their results were released just last week. Their report is at http://www.georgiacourts.gov/index.php/?option=com_content&view=article&id=159. A recap is at http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/task-force-issues-recommandation-for-improvments-o/nSQMF/. Keeping our court system functioning smoothly is as vital to our total safety program as having a safe jail, and good law enforcement agencies in the county.
The following reports are taken from our APD Zone 6 (http://www.atlantapd.org/zone6.aspx) crime stats for the 2012 weeks of 35 and 36 (8/26 to 9/8) and are not meant to scare anyone, but to make you aware of what happens around us everyday and to raise your level of alertness. The emphasis is on our VaHi Beat 601, but with news from around the Zone as it applies to us.
Aggravated Assault – No reported incidents from Beat 601
Auto Theft – One vehicle taken from a parking lot on North Highland Avenue.
Auto Theft Recovery – No reported recoveries from Beat 601
Commercial Burglary – No reported incidents from Beat 601
Residential Burglary – A condo was entered at the Carlton on Highland Lane via a damaged front door. A residential room at the Open Door on PDL Avenue was entered via an unlocked door (residents are not allowed to lock these doors).
Commercial Robbery – No reported incidents from Beat 601
Residential Robbery – No reported incidents from Beat 601
Larceny From Vehicle – Vehicles were entered on Adair Avenue, Rosedale Drive, Barnett Street, Briarcliff Road, Kanuga Street (2), North Highland Avenue and Virginia Avenue. This category of crime continues to be a black eye on the neighborhood – if we could only get all of our neighbors and visitors to be aware of the Clean Car Campaign and clean out ALL parked cars at ALL times – this crime could be erased from our neighborhood stats. This is such an easy crime to prevent – yet every week we have such incidents.
Larceny Other – Tools and building supplies were taken from a Greenwood Avenue carport. The seat and rear wheel of a chained bicycle were taken from in front of a North Highland Avenue building. Another chained bicycle was stolen by cutting the chain on a St. Charles Avenue apartment deck. Hide those bicycles when not in use.
Unwatched cell phones and purses continue to be stolen around the Zone. An unwatched wallet was taken from an under-the-chair purse at Pure restaurant on North Highland Avenue in Inman Park. A cell phone was snatched from the table of an unnamed North Highland Avenue restaurant in Inman Park – the perp was caught but without the phone. At 10:40 a.m. at the traffic lite at Parkway and North Avenue – a thief reached into a car and stole a cell phone.
A concertgoer at the Masquerade on North Avenue had his I-pad stolen – the victim traced it via a cell phone and the perp was arrested by MARTA police.
Pedestrian Robbery – At 1:40 a.m. on PDL Avenue near PDL Place a lone male was approached by 2 males – one put a gun to his head and the other went thru his pockets taking the usual wallet, cell phone, etc. The perps fled on foot northward on PDL Place.
Yes – since the time period of this report we have had 3 other pedestrian robberies on residential streets (Drewry Street, Greenwood Avenue and PDL Terrace), but I do not have the reports on two of the incidents yet, so will wait til I can report them all in detail at once. In the meantime, be alert, aware, and report to 911 any and all suspicious persons or vehicles (See Something – Say Something) . Keep cell phones hidden from view and especially do NOT walk and talk or text at the same time – this activity is just asking for trouble (unfortunately).
Enjoy all of the upcoming festivals and special events in this wonderful fall weather, by staying alert.