Atlanta Mayor takes responsibility for rise in some crimes

ATLANTA - It is happening all over: car windows smashed in parking lots, thieves taking over vehicles at gas stations.

There is a tie to rampant property crime, said Mayor Kasim Reed, to a decision he made this past summer.

With a moment of candor, the mayor says, a shift in police resources he ordered to try to tamp down the murder rate resulted in fewer officers being available to tackle property crimes.

That is about to change, he says. Reed says the murder rate has stabilized.

The police force can now concentrate on other crimes. And the redeployment starts this week.

Reed also says he will seek help from state law enforcement to work with the Atlanta Police Department over the coming weeks.