FOX 5 Special: Private Patrols

ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) - With furloughs and budget cutbacks, there are now fewer Atlanta police on the streets. Now, some Atlanta neighborhoods are hiring those same Atlanta cops when they are off-duty to create their own private security forces.

An off-duty Atlanta officer gets paid to patrol the Ormewood community by the homeowners who live in the area.

"As a neighborhood you said we can't rely on the police we can't rely on the city to solve our problems. We realized as long as they are stretched thin we won't get the response to catch the guys," said one Ormewood Park resident.

Over in Inman Park, residents have had a neighborhood patrol for several years. The price per home starts at $200 per year. For $300, homeowners can get extra services like having an officer escort to the front door at night or checks on a home while the homeowner is away. Now, the goal for many Inman Park residents is a full-time force.

Furloughs and cutbacks in the Atlanta police budget mean fewer city officers on the streets.

Ormewood Park resident Amanda Blocker said the decrease in officers has started to show. "By July we realized we had a huge problem we were averaging about 20 residential burglaries a month, so we realized we had to do something," Blocker said.

In December, the Trolley Patrol was born. For $30 every month, the community had their own police force. Within just three months, there was big drop in crime.

"We had 18 burglaries in March of '08. We had three in March of '09," said Blocker.

Despite the furloughs and the cutbacks, crime in Atlanta is actually down so far this year. Stats show a 10 percent drop in serious crimes from 2008 to 2009.

"Certainly the Atlanta Police Department can't take the credit for that, the community certainly does," said Major Khyres Williams of the Atlanta Police Department.

Major Williams said efforts like the Trolley Patrol and the Inman Park Patrol have helped fill in the gaps made by cutbacks.

"Number one, it gives us more police presence on the street. Secondly, it gives us more of a partnership," said Major Williams.

Not every neighborhood can afford a private police force.

In southeast Atlanta's Pittsburgh neighborhood, community activist LaShawen Hoffman said hiring off-duty officers wasn't an option.

"It's about who has resources and who has disposable resources," said Hoffman.

Walk any street in the Pittsburgh neighborhood and you can see the same thing Greg Spibey sees from his front porch.

"Vacant lots, vacant homes, boarded up homes," said Spibey.

For every home that's occupied in the Pittsburgh community, there's one that's boarded up. Fifty percent of the homes are vacant.

"There's no way you can create a viable community, let alone a safe community with a 50 percent vacancy rate," Spibey said.
While neighborhoods nearby can pay to protect themselves, homeowners in the Pittsburgh community are left out.

"I'm not sure that it is fair but it is reality and the reality is our community has suffered and is suffering," said Hoffman.

"By being a taxpayer I think you still should have the same protection as any other neighborhood," said Spibey.

In communities with patrols, homeowners said they would rather spend money themselves than pay it in taxes.

"With taxes, I don't ever have the assurance they're doing things, that's someone else making decisions," said Blocker.

"Oh, I think most residents would rather pay it to the patrol. They see the tangible results, they see the officers everyday driving by their house or walking," said Major Williams.

Neighborhood patrols aren't new. Areas like Inman Park have been using the patrols for some time, but with the city budget cuts, the patrols are expanding. Inman Park residents would like to get a 24 hour private patrol for the neighborhood.