THE NECESSITY:
Midtown's
ongoing redevelopment into an ever more dynamic urban
community necessitates a structured approach to complex neighborhood crime and criminogenic factors.
A structured and systematic community response is especially
necessary to address the remnants of decades of urban decay
preceding the Midtown renewal. We have fixed up the home,
furnished it beautifully, and made the garden beautiful, but
we must also play a very active role in moving past
challenges to neighborhood safety and security, and good
public order. And because
of the urban nature of our neighborhood, a community patrol
supplementing Atlanta Police coverage is absolutely
necessary and vital to the Midtown experience.
Since 2003 the MPSA, with the support
of its membership and community sponsors, has contributed much
improvement in crime and public order in our neighborhood. Overall
we now see significantly less street prostitution, vagrant activity,
public disorder, and petty crime in the neighborhood than before we
started. But much work remains to be done as our beautiful and dynamic
neighborhood soars to new heights. Ongoing support, especially in
the way of MPSA membership, remains crucial to maintaining this
momentum.
OUR CHALLENGES:
A number of challenges to
public security and order exist in Midtown and surrounding
neighborhoods. Our most pressing safety issues
include:
-
A high volume of street people and vagrants - usually living a life of illegal drug use, prostitution, criminal and nuisance activity - served and enabled by churches and agencies
not operating with the
Atlanta Gateway Center. As a result, they fail to consider the overall needs of their target population and impact upon the surrounding community.
-
A major open-air street drug
market, which coincides with a large corporate-owned Section 8
housing project, flourishes just south of our area. IN turn,
this greatly compounds the street people problem in our
neighborhood.
-
Ponce de Leon Avenue's
transformation into a magnificent gateway into Midtown still has a
very long way to go. An upgrade in land use patterns, coupled with
the development of the Beltline, would greatly facilitate solutions
for our public safety issues. For now, no concrete plans to change
this picture exist.
-
Staffing shortages at the Atlanta Police Department, with no relief in sight, put serious limitations on dealing with crime and public disorder all around the city.
These factors expose our neighborhood
to inordinate levels of burglaries, car thefts and break-ins, street
robberies and assaults, street prostitution, aggressive panhandling and
psychotic vagrants, and other crimes against persons and property. A
well-organized and well-supported neighborhood plan, with a
community patrol at its core, ensures that these aggressive factors do not
overshadow the things making our neighborhood a great place. The MPSA
leads the Midtown community in tackling these challenges head-on.
THE MPSA RESPONSE:
The MPSA unites Midtown's residential
and business community to proactively tackle our public safety and
security challenges head-on. With an eye toward a
safer and more orderly neighborhood the MPSA deploys two key
strategies:
-
The MPSA Patrol - The patrol operated by the MPSA
and funded by its resident and business members is the backbone
of our neighborhood's public safety and security. We hire
off-duty officers to patrol our service area to supplement regular
police coverage. 95% of our funds
go into patrol operations.
-
Eyes on Midtown -
The block watch program provides another mechanism to the Midtown
community to proactively participate in a safer neighborhood. This
neighbor-to-neighbor program enhances cohesion among neighbors, enhances
our ability to formulate and implement effective responses to public
security issues, and most importantly generates support for the MPSA
Patrol.
In addition to these two key strategies
we employ additional measures toward a
safer and more orderly neighborhood.
-
A monthly safety
meeting brings Midtowners together to discuss and plan responses
to public safety issues.
-
Electronic reports and bulletins
to keep the community informed of issues and trends affecting public
safety and security.
-
Coordination of assistance to
police and prosecutors by the Midtown community - for example
through the Fulton DA's court watch program.
-
We hold
special events like National Night Out to promote Midtowners getting
to know one another - the ultimate foundation of any safe community.
YOUR ROLE IN MIDTOWN'S SAFETY AND SECURITY:
First and foremost, we need
the residents, property owners, and businesses to join and maintain
membership in the MPSA so we can fund the MPSA Patrol - the backbone
of our neighborhood's security blueprint. Midtown remains a
revitalizing neighborhood - even if in late stages of such - and community participation and feedback
in public safety matters help sustain long-term success in making a
better Midtown for all of us. In the longer run the quality of living in our
diverse and dynamic neighborhood will improve greatly, and our
property values will reflect a much more desirable environment in
which to live, work, and play. Ongoing support by way of
membership fees is critical to this objective - more details on our
membership
registration page.
