Livable Buckhead and Buckhead CID Launch Campaign to Reduce Vehicle Break-Ins
Community-wide effort aims to raise public awareness, improve coordination among security teams
ATLANTA – Sept. 5, 2019 – Livable Buckhead, with funding provided by the Buckhead Community Improvement District, is launching a multi-pronged campaign to reduce the number of vehicle break-ins in Buckhead. Theft from automobiles accounts for more than a third of Buckhead crimes and is largely preventable. Livable Buckhead is taking that message to the public, reminding drivers to take or hide valuables and lock their doors every time they leave a parked vehicle.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got a target-rich environment in Buckhead,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead. “People come here to shop or visit and leave valuable items in their cars, including guns, not realizing that they’re making themselves a target and contributing to a larger problem. There’s a very straightforward fix for it, though. If everyone who drives to Buckhead will take or hide their valuables and lock their doors when they leave their vehicles, we will see a decrease in the number of break-ins.”
Livable Buckhead is partnering with local commercial property owners and managers to raise the visibility of the “take, hide, lock” message. Soon visitors to Buckhead office buildings and retail establishments will see signs reminding them to “take, hide, lock” as they leave parking decks and enter buildings. The campaign will also include outreach through social media and Livable Buckhead’s other direct outreach to area commuters and residents.
In addition to public education, the campaign is also improving the flow of security-related information across Buckhead. Livable Buckhead has created a public safety committee on its board of directors and convened a working group of security directors for commercial properties that meets quarterly to share information and get updates from Zone 2 of the Atlanta Police Department. Livable Buckhead has also facilitated real-time communication between the security directors, enabling them to alert one another to potential security issues across the commercial district.
“Ensuring public safety is vital to every community, and as the largest shopping center destination in Buckhead we definitely have a role to play in this campaign,” said Robin Suggs, general manager of Lenox Square and chair of Livable Buckhead’s public safety committee. “Buckhead’s commercial properties are enthusiastic about working together to address this problem and I think we can have a real positive impact.”
One step that commercial property owners are being encouraged to take is connecting their private security cameras to the Atlanta Police Department’s video integration center. The “VIC” is a high-tech operation that enables 911 operators to access a network of cameras across the city, providing APD with real-time information that can be helpful for officers responding to a situation. Several properties, including both Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, have already connected their cameras to the VIC.
Another element of the campaign is to encourage police officers and firefighters to live in Buckhead by offering an increased housing subsidy. The Buckhead CID has long offered a one-time payment of $1,000 to offset housing costs. The new subsidy is $650 per month and will be available for five officers.
Livable Buckhead took its first steps to formulate the campaign in late 2018, when Buckhead’s crime statistics showed a sharp increase across a variety of categories. Recent trends are more positive, with year-to-date crime down five percent over 2018 levels.
“We’re glad to see downward trends in crime, and we want to do whatever we can to keep the numbers headed in that direction,” Starling added.
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About Livable Buckhead
Livable Buckhead is a nonprofit organization that strives to ensure the long-term viability and prosperity of the Buckhead community. The organization achieves its mission by working cooperatively with individuals, public entities and private businesses to integrate sustainable strategies. Livable Buckhead implements programs related to greenspace, recycling, energy efficiency, commute alternatives, arts and culture, real estate development and land use. For more information about Livable Buckhead and its programs, visit livablebuckhead.org.
About Buckhead CID
The objective of the Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID), working with the City of Atlanta and its community partners, is to meet the challenges resulting from Buckhead’s rapid, primarily automobile-based growth, including improving safety, traffic mobility, enhancing the pedestrian environment, creating better access to public transit, initiating intra-district transportation alternatives, encouraging better integration of land uses and improving linkages to the region’s automobile, transit and bicycle networks.
