BUCKHEAD — Mayor Keisha Bottoms hosted a town hall for Buckhead residents Thursday night -- and a recent increase in crime was a hot topic.
The Buckhead Council of Neighbors Town Hall started Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Atlanta History Center.
Channel 2's Lauren Pozen was in Buckhead, where the house was already packed about an hour before the meeting was set to start.
Pozen talked to people who live in the area earlier Thursday, who said they plan to tell Bottoms that they need a larger police presence in public spaces, as well as in their neighborhoods.
Residents cited several recent high-profile crimes, including the shooting death of a young father outside a bar called the Hole in the Wall just a few weeks ago.
They also talked about $10 million worth of jewelry that was recently stolen from Icebox Diamonds and Watches and multiple slider crime in the area.
Pozen talked to Ann Walsh, who said the town hall comes at a time when crime is the worst -- and they need Bottoms' help.
"We want her to acknowledge that there is a problem in Buckhead," Walsh said. "We feel that we should have our concerns addressed and maybe tonight is the beginning of that."
In the past two months, Channel 2 Action News has covered a string of crimes in Buckhead, from an Atlanta fire captain who was shot getting out of his car during a robbery to the burglary at Icebox.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Burned body found near dumpster at DeKalb County park
- High school band director arrested on charges he had sex with student
- Feds make biggest drug bust in 12 months at Atlanta airport
Buckhead resident Taryn Brown said she hopes residents come away from the meeting with some solutions to move forward.
"Perhaps (Bottoms) can share some ideas with us about maybe some things that she is working on that we don't know about and will put our minds at ease," Brown said.
Pozen reached out to the Atlanta Police Department, who said that crime is actually down compared to this time last year. But residents aren't buying that.
"In my mind, and in my neighbor's minds, and in Buckhead's mind, crime is not down because it is happening all the time around us," Brown said.
Walsh said isolated crime isn't the only thing neighbors are worried about.
"We are concerned about gangs first and foremost, the revolving door of the courts and an understaffed Atlanta Police department," Walsh said.
Former mayoral candidate Mary Norwood, now the Chair of the Buckhead Council of Neighbors, wrote a letter to Bottoms a month ago, calling for a meeting to talk about crime. She says the town hall is a step in the right direction.
"We first ought to start with the city, what the city is doing, and then figure out how we can augment and help and all be working together," Norwood said.