Crime along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive a community concern
Business owners along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. concerned over violence
Crime is down on this side of town compared to this time last year. That’s according to Atlanta Police who were out Monday night talking to residents. One community member says that data is all relative when you’re witnessing the violence every day.
ATLANTA - Some community members and business owners along the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Drive corridor say violent crime is getting out of control, especially among the youth. Just in the last month, an officer-involved shooting left one man dead, another shooting sent a KFC employee to the hospital, and a shooting at a Chick-fil-A claimed the life of a 24-year-old man.
"We don’t want to see one child killed, one possible leader, possible scientist, possible great dad left on the street. I saw him…I just happened to be going by there," resident Shadé Jones said of the shooting outside the Chick-fil-A.
That is in addition to five car break-ins, three aggravated assaults, three robberies, and a burglary APD’s Zone 1 Commander says were all reported in the last 28 days.
"It’s very disheartening…we have to work together to uplift the young people in our neighborhoods," Jones, the English Ave and Vine City NPUL chair, said.
While police say crime in the corridor is down 28 percent from this time last year, MLK Ashby Merchant Association President Johnny Mims says so is business in a time they typically see things pick up and that’s even with normal patrols.
"They’ve sent some bicycle cops and some foot beat cops. We also understand that they don’t have the resources to be 24 hours on this street," Mims said.
He says the MLK-Ashby Merchant Association hopes to raise money that would pay for the presence off duty cops when on duty police aren’t there. Mims called on larger corporate businesses like Walmart, Chick-fil-A and nearby universities to pitch in.
"It’s $342,000 and these small businesses can’t afford to do it on their own," he explained.
District 3 City Councilman Byron Amos says he’s working with Georgia Power to address another part of the problem—lighting.
"When you have a dark street, you have those that are beginning to pray on that and those that are in the dark," Amos explained.
He says Georgia Power is working to determine which lights need to be repaired or replaced. Councilman Amos says he should be hearing from Georgia Power on the improvements to lighting in the area by the end of this week.
The MLK-Ashby Merchant Association is asking business owners to display "Stop the Violence" signs in their windows as a show of solidarity. Atlanta police also encouraged business owners and residents to register with Connect Atlanta, a public safety program allowing police to access external residential cameras.