Yet even MORE on out-of-control Clayton County GA

[AtlantaWhiteGuy]

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...ge_tab_newstab

Crime gives Clayton one crisis too many
By MEGAN MATTEUCCI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, September 22, 2008

The FBI’s report of a double-digit rise in violent crime in Clayton County stings a community already reeling from lost school accreditation and a staggering foreclosure rate.

It also foreshadows a possible spiraling out of economic control. Violent crime in Clayton rose by 21 percent in 2007 to 1,366 reports, up from 1,126 in 2006, according to the federal report.

To the head of Clayton County’s Chamber of Commerce, the crime statistics are the final blow. “There is nowhere to go but up,” said Geoff Fulton, chairman of the chamber’s board of directors. “The sheriff, the district attorney and all nine school board members are gone.”

But Fulton, in a breath of cautious optimism, is hopeful the county can recover. “Certainly, it isn’t always going to be this way,” he said.

Clayton reported 143 more aggravated assaults (up 28.3 percent), 35 more rapes (up 83 percent) and 61 more robberies (up 11.2 percent). Neighboring Fayette County, which reported just 33 violent crimes — up just six violent incidents — was the only other county in the metropolitan Atlanta area to see double-digit increases.

Clayton Police Chief Jeffrey Turner, who oversees 327 officers, attributes most of the increase to more residents reporting crime: Police have received an average of 5,000 to 10,000 more calls a month since a community policing program began in 2006. Officers visit more homeowners associations to empower residents to take back their neighborhoods. Turner also blamed population growth, but Clayton grew by only 0.4 percent — fewer than 1,000 people.

Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell, who is developing a crime-fighting strategy with the county’s police chiefs, said he has applied for a federal grant for 10 more officers though a crime-prevention program. “This kind of rise in crime is unacceptable,” said Bell, a 33-year Atlanta police veteran and chief from 1990 to 1994. “But it’s not just the police’s job. It’s the job of the whole criminal justice system, the churches, the schools and other intervention programs in our community.”

Turner said he is working on a domestic violence program, increasing truancy sweeps and building a new police precinct, which would increase police visibility.

But those initiatives can’t compete against a struggling economy. Turner said the problems go hand-in-hand: Unaccredited schools fuel the exodus from the county and the struggling economy increases foreclosures. Vacant homes exacerbate the crime problem, giving teenagers places to sell drugs and thieves targets for break-ins.

“With unemployment up and gas up, of course there will be an escalation in the crime rate,” said Turner. “We used to be able to see kids congregating on street corners. Now they have drug and sex parties in abandoned homes.”
While crime may be escalating, the number of law-abiding victims are few, Turner said. He points to drug dealers and gangs robbing and killing each other over territory.

Police in Riverdale and Forest Park, Clayton’s largest cities, said they have seen teenagers burglarizing homes to steal video game systems, plasma televisions and other pricey electronics. Property crimes rose 6.5 percent from 8,203 to 8,736 incidents.

Burglars are also breaking into the vacant properties to steal air conditioning units, pipes and other fixtures to sell at scrap yards, said Forest Park Police Maj. Chris Matson. “Who’s going to rent a house where all the pipes have been stolen or buy a house without copper wiring? It’s a snowball effect,” Matson said.

Kent Miller, owner of RE/MAX Advantage in Jonesboro, said investors are the only people buying properties in Clayton. “Right now the market has gone to investors because it’s all about price,” said Miller, who hasn’t sold a home in the county in more than six months. “I’ve been selling since 1981 and this market is the worst I’ve seen in my whole life.”

Turner said he understands the Realtors’ dilemma, but he’s seen some investors rent to anyone willing to pay, including drug dealers. “The community is much better when you have people who care about their neighborhood,” Turner said. “We don’t want someone who buys a home for the wrong purposes, like to sell drugs, push prostitution out of the house or use it as a stash house for drugs.”

Police are working with landlords to offer free criminal background checks of tenants in exchange for a lease that would allow property owners to evict renters who are arrested. About 63 percent of Clayton’s residents are renters, Bell said. For Jonesboro real estate agent LaTanya McGriggs, the rise in crime is just another reason why she is focusing more of her attention on neighboring Henry County. “I’m very optimistic it will turn, but right now we need help,” said McGriggs, who lives in Clayton and sends her children to private school. “Schools are the first thing people ask about and crime going up will affect the market even more.”

While Clayton officials may be promoting their county, many stakeholders — including Turner and Fulton — live outside the county. “That’s always been a complaint that the business owners live elsewhere,” said the chamber’s Fulton, a Fayette resident and Jonesboro High School graduate. The majority of the chamber’s board live in Henry or Fayette counties, Fulton said.

[Montag451]

Originally Posted by AtlantaWhiteGuy

Turner also blamed population growth, but Clayton grew by only 0.4 percent — fewer than 1,000 people.

I am gonna take wild guess that Turner is a nigger. If niggers are supposed to be equal to whites, why are they se easy to identify when no mention of race is given?