Police Zone 2 Wins Crime Reduction Award

Buckhead’s , led by Commander Maj. Robert Browning, achieved the largest decrease in crime in the city for 2011, the APD said in an announcement.

Zone 2, the city's largest, posted a 13 percent reduction in crime over the year, the APD said.

The zone was recently expanded to include the Cheshire Bridge Road area and the Morningside-Lenox Park neighborhood.

“Given the challenges fighting crime that not only the Atlanta Police Department had last year, but departments across the nation, a 13 percent reduction in crime is a remarkable feat,” Police Chief George Turner said in the APD statement. “Maj. Browning and the men and women who work under his command are to be commended.”

Browning will receive the APD's “Crime Reduction Award" at the Atlanta Police Foundation’s annual “Crime is Toast” breakfast in the fall. Last year, Zone 6 received the award.

“This award is a testament to the men and women who come to work every day with only one thought on their minds, ‘How can we make Zone 2 a safer place to live, work and play?’” Browning said in a statement. “The Buckhead and North Atlanta areas are vital to our city’s cultural and economic success. I’m privileged and honored to serve there, and want to ensure it remains that way from a public safety standpoint.”

Zone 2 for the year showed:

• A 50 percent increase in traffic enforcement.

• A 14 percent decrease in property crimes.

• A 23 percent decrease in motor vehicle break-ins.

• An 8 percent decrease in auto thefts.

Zone 2 includes many north Atlanta neighborhoods, including North Buckhead, Peachtree Hills, Mount Paran-Northside and Riverside. The zone also covers Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, the central Buckhead business district and the Buckhead commercial and residential area along Howell Mill Road. Under a recent beat redesign that took effect in early 2012, the zone added the Cheshire Bridge and Morningside areas.

Browning has pledged to continue his efforts to reduce crime in Zone 2 in 2012 by continuing to step up traffic enforcement, directed patrols and investigations of suspicious people near parking lots, decks and businesses.

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