Vehicle thefts in East Atlanta and throughout Zone 6 are running at an extremely high rate over the past two months. Major Webster has confirmed that approximately 70% of these thefts in our community and across Zone 6 are still Kias and Hyundais.
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While many of you may have had a fix installed by the dealer or have models that are not within the easy to steal model years, the thieves are still trying to take the Kias and Hyundais, often damaging them during the unsuccessful attempt. For this reason, the EASP and Zone 6 strongly recommend using a club to provide a visible deterrent whenever you park any Kia or Hyundai outdoors.

​​The East Atlanta Security Patrol (EASP) is making a special offer until February 28th.  Instead of waiting until our next official entry date of April 1st to become a member, anyone joining by the end of February will receive free membership through March 31st before your official membership kicks in on April 1st.

Membership in the EASP is $50 per quarter.  Memberships are offered for 3, 6 and 12 months.  All new memberships paid by November 20th will include an EASP yard sign free of charge.

​All membership dollars go toward funding extra police patrols in East Atlanta.  The goal is to discourage crime from occurring in our neighborhood rather than trying to catch criminals after crimes are committed.  Patrol time is largely allocated based on where members live, so more members on your street mean a larger share of patrol time for your street.  Patrols are also allocated based on current and historical crime patterns.
 
Members of the EASP may request extra patrols while away from home for work or on vacation. By submitting a simple form, members receive extra patrols at their homes from both the EASP officers and APD officers. 
 
In addition to extra police patrols in our community, the EASP works closely with the Atlanta Police Department to share information about crime threats or new patterns of crime. When appropriate, the EASP shares this information with the community via the EASP website, Facebook and Twitter.  The EASP also addresses quality of life issues, which can range from abandoned cars to noise complaints, difficult neighbors to speeding in our neighborhood.
 
The EASP, in its seventeenth year of operation, employs off-duty Zone Six police officers to perform additional patrols within Beat 612, which is the police designation for the East Atlanta community. All patrol officers are armed, in uniform, with full arrest powers.  All vehicles are APD marked cars.  The EASP employs experienced officers who know the East Atlanta community and have a vested interest in keeping our neighborhood safe.  Major crime categories are all down 80-90% since the EASP began operations, and East Atlanta has not been subject to the increasing and violent crime that many Atlanta neighborhoods have faced in the past couple of years.

While our burglary activity has dropped considerably in the past few years, there has been a marked increase in residential burglaries in areas adjacent to East Atlanta this week, including one at Marbut and McWilliams on Wednesday at 10 a.m.  With many neighbors still out of town, if you see any suspicious activity, be sure to call 911 followed by the EASP at 404-954-1568.

The burglary on Wednesday utilized a white Hyundai SUV, which was spotted elsewhere in the vicinity.  The vehicle had a paper tag, so be on the lookout for such a vehicle.  It appears that the perpetrators are knocking on doors to see if anyone is home, so if that should happen to you, do not hesitate to report it.

If you have been the victim of a vehicle break-in during the past two weeks, this has been a terrible period for these crimes.  If you have any good video of such a crime, please forward the video to [email protected].  We are working with APD to identify the perpetrators, particularly if they match any of the people arrested yesterday morning.  Hopefully we'll soon start to see some relief from the nightly vehicle incursions, but we can best guarantee that by all of you providing video that identify people or vehicles that were involved in this recent crime spree.

There was a burglary reported early this afternoon on Bouldercrest near Wainwright.  The suspect was described as a white male about 50 years old, with a white and brown beard.  He was wearing a white shirt and grey shorts, and was on foot.  If anyone has an idea of who this suspect is, please contact the East Atlanta Security Patrol at 404-954-1568.
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APD has asked us to be on the lookout for a blue Chevy HHR Station wagon, with tag RAD0492.  There are likely four occupants, and they appear to be casing homes in our area.  If you see this vehicle, immediately call 911 followed by the EASP at 404-954-1568.  Do not post to social media until you have called the police.

Thanks again to our EASP officer on duty this morning for alertly stopping a stolen vehicle near Burgess Peterson Academy and arresting the two occupants.  The EASP officers have made a number of similar arrests in the past year, and it helps to limit the burglaries in East Atlanta that are committed by perpetrators from outside our community.  Burglaries were down 40% last year, and continue to decline dramatically in 2019.

Remember, you do not need to be a member to call the East Atlanta Security Patrol.  However, if you need an immediate police response, call 911 prior to calling the EASP at 404-954-1568.

If you wish to help make it possible for the EASP officers to patrol more hours, take advantage of our special promotion running through May 24th.  Anyone signing up for a new membership will receive free service from Memorial Day Weekend through June 30th, prior to the official start of your membership on July 1st.  Should you miss the May 24th deadline, your membership will fall under our normal policy, and begin on the first day of the next quarter (July 1st, October 1st, January 1st, April 1st).