Virginia Highland Safety Team Report

Burglar Alarm Registration  
City Council has passed an ordinance requiring all of we residents and businesses to now register our burglar alarm systems to get hold of all of the false alarms that APD responds to.  http://www.ajc.com/news/news/police-atlanta-residents-businesses-must-register-/nY7Bm/  The registry site is at www.crywolf.us/atlantaga/  or by calling 1-855-725-7102.  I've registered mine online and it only takes a few moments.  The new ordinance takes effect 9/15/2013 and we have til 2/14/2014 to register without a penalty - but why wait til February?  
 
Does This Article Describe VaHi?
  Interesting article on the Atlantic Cities website describing what makes a safe neighborhood.  I think that this is a pretty good description of VaHi, but I also wonder if too many think that our community is Mayberry and we are not as vigilant as we should be.  What do you think?  http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/07/google-street-view-knows-why-some-neighborhoods-just-feel-safe/6326/  
The First Anniversary of Mike Moloo's Murder
 There will be a gathering for reflection and rememberances on 8/17 at Fellini's Pizza at 909 PDL Avenue at 3 p.m.  RSVP to Rita at rmyersga@aol.com if you plan to attend so there will be a head count.  Too bad that this Barnett Street murder is still unsolved.  
Safety Team Street Captains - Save The Date
  There will be a Street Captain's meeting on Saturday morning, 9/14, from 9:30 til noon at Church of Our Saviour in the lower level meeting room.  The guest speaker will be Captain Brent Schierbaum - now the interim head of our 911 call center and video integration center.  I'm sure that many of you wonder as to what happens after you dial 911 - this will be a good chance to get all of your questions answered.  This gathering will also be open to other interested residents and our community business folks too.  I'm sure that many of you remember Schierbaum from when he was our evening watch Sector Sergeant a few years ago.  He has remained a good friend of VaHi as he has moved up the APD ladder. 

 The following reports are taken from our APD Zone 6 ( http://atlantapd.org/Zone6.aspx) for the 2013 weeks of 29 and 30 (7/14 to 7/27) for our VaHi Beat 601.  Again, as always, I state that these reports are not meant to scare anyone, but to make you aware of what happens around us everyday and to raise your level of alertness.

 Aggravated Assault  - 
No reported incidents from Beat 601  
Auto Theft  -  A 1992 Honda was taken from PDL Place.  
Commercial Burglary  -  An unsuccessful entry attempt was made at Going Coastal restaurant on Virginia Avenue, with pry marks left on the front door   Residential Burglary  -  At a Greenwood Avenue residence entry was made via a front bedroom broken window with 3 laptops taken.  A Barnett Street home was entered via a kicked-in door.  A Greenwood Avenue apartment was entered via a kicked-in door, with the male resident confronting and having an altercation with the burglar who escaped.  The suspect is the ex-boyfriend of the victim's girlfriend.  
Commercial Robbery  -  No reported incidents from Beat 601  
Residential Robbery  -  No reported incidents from Beat 601  
Pedestrian Robbery  -  No reported incidents from Beat 601  
Larceny From Vehicle  -  In spite of this being the easiest of all crimes to prevent by cleaning out ALL parked cars at ALL times - thieves were lured here and vehicles were violated on Drewry Street (2), Frederica Street, Virginia Avenue (3), Los Angeles Avenue (3), PDL Avenue, North Highland Avenue, and Greenwood Avenue. There were 134 such vehicle intrusions in all of Zone 6 in this time period with 5 more firearms being added to the arsenal already on the streets!  Comforting thought - right?  
Larceny Other  -  A Nancy's Pizza delivery guy was seen on camera taking an unwatched laptop from a Brookridge Drive front porch.  No word as to whether he has been apprehended.  An arrestee was caught taking money from a tip jar at the Bookhouse Pub on PDL Avenue.  A ten foot piece of angle iron was taken from the grounds of the Briarcliff Summit building on PDL Avenue.  At an un-named retailer on North Highland Avenue, an unwatched cellphone was taken while the employee was lured to the back of the store by two "shoppers".  Around the Zone - there were many reports of unwatched cellphones taken from all sorts of places.  If you wanna keep that phone - keep it in your pockets.   No bad reports that I know of from the BeltLine lately and this is good,  But - do not let up your guard and flaunt your personal electronics on this wildly popular recreational pathway.  Granted we have the dedicated security force on duty now here - but they cannot be everywhere at all times.