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Jan. 16, 2002

First meeting of Broad Street Initiative

Below are minutes for the January 18, 2002, special meeting of the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association. Notes were written by Wendy Darling.

Introduction

The Association is currently focussing community efforts on attacking and fixing the situation at Broad Street Plaza -- agressive panhandling, drunk and disorderly conduct, public urination and defecation, petty crime, public assault, etc. This email is a summary of the meeting that took place at the Healey building today (Jan. 16) from 7 to 8 p.m.

The meeting was called to order by Healey Building resident Cooper Holland, who along with Metropolitan resident Jodi Mount, is heading up the action committee to take on Broad Street Plaza.

Something Cooper brought up right away: She has a meeting scheduled with an executive at CVS to discuss what possible ways the CVS Pharmacy on the plaza could be of assistance (or require assistance) in dealing with the issues. (Wendy later suggesting talking directly to the store manager and/or the store's security lead.)

This meeting's guests included to APD officers and an Ambassador -- more of what they had to say below.

Atlanta Police Dept. -- Sgt. Metz

We were pleased to have two City of Atlanta police officers in attendance. Sgt. Metz of APD Zone 5's Underground Precinct presented residents with the APD's stance and plans and responded to numerous questions.

Here are a few of the issues that arose:

Underground Precinct is beginning an immediate program of having one officer on the Plaza to act as a "headhunter." Officer Minnoch, present at the meeting, has been designated to go around the Plaza and dispense with lawbreakers. According to Sgt. Metz, he will put people in jail if he needs to. Officer Metz will work weekday daytime until 4, while Sgt. Metz will work 4-10 p.m. At night Plaza issues will be dealt with by APD patrol cars working out of CNN Center.
Sgt. Metz says there is someone in the Zone working on following up court action that has been taken. Often a person will be out of parole for committing a felony and then they'll commit another felony, certainly violating their parole, and yet there is no penalty for violating parole.
Underground Precinct is based at 94 Pryor Street and consist of officers working on foot patrols. This is the precinct that deals with issues in the Plaza. There are several other precincts located Downtown and they would be the ones to consult for issues outside of that area (i.e. Fairlie-Poplar, Peachtree Center, etc.). For a listing of those other precinct locations, see this page on the APD web site.
Violations that officers can nab people for include: excessive loitering, drunk and disorderly, agressive panhandling, spitting, drug dealing, public urination, public defecation, assault. For drunkenness, the person must also be disorderly (yelling, screaming, threatening, grabbing people, throwing things), not just drunk. For panhandling, it must be "aggressive panhandling," which is when the person asks more than once or uses threats, violates personal spaces, yells repeatedly, spits, etc.
In order to cite someone for a misdemeanor (example: public urination), the police officer really has to see it. They need a strong legal ground. If something is a felony, they can go on a report, but for a misdemeanor, they need to see it in order to take any major action. This is one reason why it's important to have an officer *on foot* in the area to *to* what is happening.
911 is best number to call if you have an issue with the Plaza (or any area of Downtown where you see panhandling, drunkenness, people passed out, etc. Calling the precinct is fine is you have a general issue to discuss or report, but if you want a police officer to come to the scene, call 911. According to Sgt. Metz, these 911 calls go into a log so that someone can actually go and look up an address (example: 20 Marietta, the Metropolitan) and see what 911 calls have come in previously, thus documenting the sort of incidents that are being reported.
"The best crime prevention tool there is is your neighbors," Sgt. Metz said. He said that while organizing a neighborhood crime watch was a good idea, just being a good and vigilant neighbor in general was a way to curb crime. If you see something happening that shouldn't be -- somebody breaking into a car -- take action.

Contact information for Underground Precinct:

Ambassador Force - Tim James

Tim James, a senior man at the Ambassador Force (a service of the Downtown Improvement District), spoke to residents about what the Ambassadors do and how they can help residents.

Here are a few of the issues that arose:

For plaza issues, you can call in the evening or at night and an Ambassador is on duty to try to resolve whatever issue.
The Ambassadors "have absolutely no authority" to "do" anything, but they are skilled at getting voluntary compliance. In addition, each officer is equipped with a radio with direct connections to the APD, MARTA, etc. and can get in touch with the authorities if necessary.
Ambassadors can do things like direct hungry and/or homeless people to places where they can get food, shelter, etc.
The Ambassadors are on the pro-active side of things, wanting to prevent crime from happening by having a street presence and making themselves known as eyes and ears.
It is a violation of the law to panhandle with 15 ft. of certain locations, such as store entrances, MARTA bus stops, and ATMs.
The Ambassadors will, at sometime in the near future, be giving a 1 1/2 - 2 hr. presentation to residents on the role of the Ambassadors Force, the Downtown Improvement District, etc., and giving residents ideas of how to take advantage of the Ambassadors' services. "You pay our salaries, we're here for you," he said.

Contact info. for the Ambassadors:

AFDA is a program of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, affiliated with Central Atlanta Progress.

Other Discussion

A lot of folks seem to want to organize a neighborhood watch group to start doing patrols and keeping an eye on things, record crimes, etc. Sam Bacote spoke to Cooper Holland after the meeting and said he had experience with a neighborhood watch in Washington, D.C., and would present his experiences at a future meeting.
Wendy suggested that local retailers and hoteliers might post signs like the ones in Little Five Points that instruct tourists and shoppers what to do if someone panhandles or harasses them. Wendy is supposed to find out exactly what these signs say and get in touch with the Inman Park neighborhood group to see about how they were involved in that, plus how their neighborhood watch works.
We hope to bring in as a speaker City of Atlanta Judge Riley, who assisted two residents when they prosecuted a problem on the Plaza.
There was a suggestion that residents make an effort to bring up these issues with their building committees and fellow residents. We need to educate people about the issues, how to respond, who to call, what's been doing, etc.
Suggestion to do an education guide for residents with information on the APD, definition of a misdemeanor, phone numbers, how to deal with panhandlers, etc.
A resident of Kessler's spoke about her feeling that there was a lack of Ambassadors presence in the area south of Five Points, down Broad Street over to MLK. That area is supposed to be covered but she says she never sees anyone. Mr. James said that if she doesn't see any Ambassadors there say in the evening, when there should be a beat Ambassador going through, she should call him (number below).
One major cause of the problems around the Plaza and the Five Points MARTA station is the fact that there are THREE liquor stores at Broad & MLK. A couple of residents of that area were at the meeting and they say those stores cause a huge amount of the activity that goes on. One of the stores was recently challenged when it sought a new alcohol permit but since they are appealing the action, they're still open. The process for actually shutting the store down could take three years.
Somebody suggested getting in touch with Coca Cola about adopting the plaza as a memorial to the fact that the first Coke in history was sold right there, or at least right almost at that intersection.
Tony Stewart put in a plug for his kung fu sansoo martial arts classes, which he'll be teaching at the future Gold's Gym in the basement of the Healey Building. Tony says this isn't about beating people up or being in an action movie, but about knowing how to defend yourself in simple ways. Once you know that, you won't feel afraid because you know you have some power.

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