Buckhead aims to curb recent crime uptick with new security plan

ATLANTA — Crime in Buckhead has increased recently, and leaders are making changes to help fight the problem.

Buckhead is one of Atlanta’s most desired neighborhoods. The area most widely known for its high-end shopping and celeb sightings is starting to get some notoriety for things not so great.

Atlanta police said vehicle thefts were up 25% this fall over last year. Also, there have been several violent incidents at one of its most recognizable landmarks, Lenox Square.

Community leaders are working with law enforcement and have come up with a plan to help secure the area. These plans include several security upgrades to infrastructure that’s already present. The plan includes a strategic grid of security cameras that pan and tilt. These adjusting cameras will allow monitors to get a better view of what’s going on in particular areas.

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Jim Durrett, president of the Buckhead Coalition, said they are just “taking existing programs, that have already been paid for and making further investments.”

In addition to the more advanced cameras, the plan calls for a supplemental security force. This will increase the number of officers in the area and assist those who are already working in the area.

“Those patrols are either private security or contracts,” said Durrett.

The supplemental security force should be in place by early 2021. The Buckhead Coalition will keep an eye on this resource and monitor its effectiveness.

Durrett said, “We’re going to be doing a good job of documenting what has been done and what the effect of the additional patrols has been.”

These changes will hopefully have a positive effect on the area and its residents.

Also in the plan is a crackdown on disruptive house parties. Channel 2 Action News has reported on a house off Garmon Road that received more than 100 complaint calls last summer.

Neighbors accused the homeowners of hosting large, loud gathering.

“Come up with things we might be able to do with ordinances so that we can put some of this back in the bottle,” Durrett said.

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