Public Safety

Peachtree Corners Explores New Kind of Law Enforcement

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2022

Arlinda Smith Broady

City Marshals may become a new hybrid between code enforcement and police officer.

The City of Peachtree Corners is growing its reputation as an incubator for smart technology. It is poised on the cutting edge of putting that genius to practical applications such as driverless shuttles and electric vehicle charging systems that may one day make it possible to drive from coast to coast without stopping to charge. However, the city is still in the shadow of recent violent crimes.

Several incidents this year have worried residents, government officials and city stakeholders that the quaint metro Atlanta bedroom community is becoming a target for murders and robberies. A man was shot and killed in the middle of a botched carjacking in July. In November, a Norcross High student was shot and killed in broad daylight near the school.

City leaders are testing and deploying smart technology, such as license plate readers and an extended video system using government, commercial business and home security cameras. Still, residents aren’t sure that’s enough.

The system has been scaled across the city and, to date, has helped recover more than $3 million in stolen property, and it has helped detectives solve multiple cases.

But some residents are asking to supplement the new-fangled stuff with some old-fashioned solutions such as employing a city police force. While that idea hasn’t been quashed entirely, the prohibitive costs make it somewhat unattractive in a city that assesses no personal property tax.

City considering marshals

Peachtree Corners isn’t looking at a crime wave of the magnitude the city of Atlanta faces every day. However, the most recent incidents, along with a rise in property crimes, is concerning. To address those concerns, the city is look at a compromise of sorts.

City Manager Brian Johnson recently spoke to Peachtree Corners Magazine during the Peachtree Corners Life podcast. He said the city is considering activating a city marshal system. Instead of a full-on police force, this could be a little different and still have the authority of the police.

“We have had some unfortunate incidents of late with deaths. There’s been some other crime and it’s not uncommon as we densify. As Metro Atlanta grows, Peachtree Corners is growing. And the more people you have in an area, there’s just more opportunities for bad actors,” said Johnson.

“So, there’s this unfortunate rise in these kinds of things. And, you know, property crime is still our main criminal activity type here, but we are just becoming more and more of a target for bad actors,” he said.

Johnson pointed out intersection takeovers. One of the most egregious happened around Easter Sunday.

“You’ve got these car clubs that are seizing control of an intersection and doing all sorts of dangerous things with automobiles,” Johnson said. “Even the failed carjacking that resulted in that death was a group of teens who specifically were targeting communities that had more affluence and better automobiles that they could do that slider crime where, you know, somebody’s pumping gas, or in this case, filling air in their tires not near the driver’s side, and they slide into the seat.”

He added that oftentimes, in those instances, the cars are still running, or the keys are left in the ignition.

Even with the increased crime-fighting efforts, there is the perception that crime has catapulted in a short span of time. But Johnson pointed out that the technology is working — especially the camera system.

“In the case of these two murders, our LPR [license plate recognition] cameras, the Fūsus network, …ended up being the method in which the police were able to identify the gunman — and find the gunman. So, they work,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately, they were used after a crime was committed. We’d like to do things to prevent it, but those are examples of what we’ve done so far.”

Gaps and potential solutions

The Peachtree City Council tasked Johnson with seeking out expert opinions of what other solutions may deter crime. Although Gwinnett County Police Department’s (GCPD) West Precinct is doing a good job with the resources it has, it is handcuffed with staffing shortages and the policy constraints that countywide police departments have.

“There are sometimes gaps in the ability to direct resources based on Peachtree Corners’ specific needs,” said Johnson.

The two considered options were to start up a Peachtree Corners Police Department, which would be redundant at times, based on the current service that Gwinnett PD provides when it does have the resources, or look for a different kind of law enforcement office.

“This gap is kind of between code enforcement officers, which are specifically oriented to enforcing local code and local code only, and law enforcement that’s enforcing state law,” Johnson explained. “There is a gap. The gap can be filled if we started up what we’re calling a City Marshal office, very similar to what Sugar Hill has.”

He noted that the positions would be filled by Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certified officers.

“The intent here is to have some people who are able to fill this gap by the authority vested in their position. And be able to have them controlled by the city so that they can be directed in areas that might be really important to Peachtree Corners,” Johnson said.

A good example of how this would work is the Norcross High incident. The victim had been off campus during school hours.

“There is a truancy problem of students cutting class and cutting through the woods into the back of businesses that border Norcross High School,” he said. “Those businesses are being adversely affected. The shooting was an unfortunate result of it. But the truancy continues on with students trespassing and doing things like destroying property, dealing drugs, doing drugs.”

An internal city marshal would be a deterrent to crime and a service to the businesses, he added.

“I can tell the city marshal, ‘I want you to go out to the school and I want you to do a presence patrol during the hours where there are gaps in these kids’ schedules …I want you to be driving around the back of those businesses,’” said Johnson. “This will allow us to detain somebody until a Gwinnett Police Officer gets there to arrest them.”

At this point, it looks like there would be three city marshals, Johnson said. The marshals wouldn’t be needed 24/7, as Gwinnett Police would continue to provide the majority of police protection.

Need and benefits of city marshals

In his last newsletter for the year, City Councilman Alex Wright further clarified the need for city marshals and how the officers would fit into Peachtree Corners’ public safety plans.

Charts featured in Councilman Alex Wright’s recent newsletter

Wright was quick to point out that despite perception, crime has decreased in Peachtree Corners. Robbery, commercial burglary, theft, entering autos and motor vehicle theft are all down this year from the same period last year.

And the cameras are working. According to the city’s crime report, they aided in recovering four stolen vehicles and apprehending two wanted people.

The concept isn’t new. Other Gwinnett County cities — Sugar Hill, Buford and Berkeley Lake — utilize city marshals.

Wright gave examples of situations that have created the need for the city marshal program.

The legal department at Gwinnett County has instructed the GCPD not to enforce city specific ordinances. An example of how this is a problem was when a large, loud party held in a residential neighborhood.

A resident called the police. The police showed up, but since the ordinance they were violating was a city-specific noise ordinance, the police had been instructed not to intervene. So, the party proceeded.

In this instance, a city marshal would be empowered to enforce the ordinance and, if necessary, issue orders to cease and even make arrests, with the same powers as a police officer. A code officer cannot do that.

Unruly behavior at the Town Center is another example. The off-duty police officer is not actively patrolling. He is sitting in his car — and the city has no authority to direct him.

A city marshal would be able to enforce city ordinances and keep the peace.

Public Safety

Seyond Collaborates with Curiosity Lab and Peachtree Corners to Deploy Traffic Safety Tech

Published

7 months ago

May 6, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

Peachtree Corners, one of the United States’ first 5G smart cities, announced a collaboration with Seyond, a global provider of image-grade LiDAR technology.

Through this collaboration, Seyond will deploy and validate its LiDAR solutions in a real-world environment in an effort to create safer streets and smoother traffic flow for both vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) in the city.

Seyond’s LiDAR solution is already deployed within Curiosity Lab’s smart city ecosystem and at a select intersection in the City of Peachtree Corners.

These locations use a combination of Seyond’s LiDAR, OmniVidi Perception Service Software Platform and Blue-Band Integrator AI to provide a real-time 3D mapping of the areas, with both vehicles and pedestrian object detection.

These combined technologies collect data that can be used to implement traffic and VRU signal solutions to make intersections safer and more efficient, while also protecting citizen privacy.

The collected data from Seyond’s data and Blue-Band’s analysis can be used by Peachtree Corners to adjust traffic signals, pedestrian crossing signals, intersection design and more to address specific safety and efficiency needs.

“Curiosity Lab’s shared public domain available for testing, deployment and validation is one of the many characteristics that attracted us to collaborate with the organization,”

“By collecting data from high-volume intersections across vehicular and pedestrian traffic, we will be able to improve the quality and reliability of detection results, which can help validate Intelligent Traffic Solution-based use cases,” said Seyond Co-founder and CEO Junwei Bao.

“Our technology can be used at a signal intersection but also across parking, large areas of pedestrian crossings and more. Curiosity Lab and Peachtree Corners will allow us to explore these use cases in a real-world environment as we continue to advance and validate our solutions for public use to improve safety for all,” he added.

Seyond’s LiDAR system is able to map large environments up to 1,640-foot range that would usually require multiple traffic cameras. The hardware, originally developed and tested for autonomous vehicles, is manufactured to be automotive-grade and has been designed to withstand extreme weather conditions.

These capabilities enable Curiosity Lab and Peachtree Corners to have accurate monitoring 24/7 to make the most educated intelligent transport updates to meet the needs of citizens and visitors.

“LiDAR technology is going to change the way cities look at managing vehicular and pedestrian traffic,” said Curiosity Lab Executive Director Brandon Branham. “

LiDAR allows the city to collect data on traffic movement, congestion, wrecks, near misses and even pedestrian activity, while protecting everyone’s privacy. Seyond’s solution takes the capabilities of LiDAR one step further and enables us as a city to evaluate how we can make our major intersections safer and more efficient for VRUs and everyday traffic,” he explained.

Learn more about Seyond’s technologies at seyond.com.

City Government

Crime and Safety Concerns Dominate Town Hall Meeting

Published

8 months ago

March 27, 2024

Arlinda Smith Broady

Eric Christ

Besides his monthly newsletter, Peachtree Corners City Councilman Eric Christ occasionally hosts town hall meetings to allow constituents to catch up on what’s going on and give him feedback on a variety of issues.

On Sunday, March 24, several dozen residents and stakeholders gathered for updates at City Hall’s Community Chest room. Christ probably expected the gathering to last 90 minutes at the most, but the discussion lasted nearly three hours as he shared information about the Marshal program, development projects, the new dog park, deer and the May 21 primary election.

Cutting down on crime

Probably to nobody’s surprise, crime and public safety took up the bulk of the meeting. Christ wanted the audience to take away that crime in Peachtree Corners is down 25% from pre-pandemic times. He showed a chart with crime rates from 2019 through 2023 that showed a significant drop in crime overall.

Residential burglaries are down by 48%.
Thefts are down by 34%.
Robberies are down by 24%.

“Prior to the pandemic in 2017, 2018 and 2019 we were averaging about 100 total [part one crimes] every month, and that dropped almost by half during the pandemic. Then, in 2021, it went back up a little bit again,” said Christ.

Even though the rate has increased year over year since 2020, it has not returned to pre-COVID levels. However, compared to the previous year, crime has increased by 23%. One solution may be the new City Marshal program that kicked off in November.

Having a relatively small population, the most heinous crimes, such as homicide and aggravated assault, have stayed lower than in many other areas. However, auto thefts, car break-ins, robberies and other property crimes remain somewhat high.

The City Marshal’s involvement

Chief City Marshal Edward Restrepo gave anecdotal evidence that the marshal program is working and will continue to get better because it fills the gaps left between the Gwinnett Police Department and the city’s code enforcement department.

“We had a jewelry store robbery, and about the time we came in, we had started building up the camera registry as well as the integration system of cameras all around the city,” said Restrepo. “With only three of us, we have to rely on technology as much as we can.”

Although the marshals didn’t apprehend the bad guys, their assistance helped other law enforcement officers do their jobs more effectively. Several residents asked if there were plans to increase the marshal force to provide 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service.

The initial cost was around $900,000, said Christ, and maintaining the three officers and an administrative assistant will require about $700,000. Although Peachtree Corners doesn’t levy a property tax, the city’s share of county taxes goes toward that type of expense.

“It’s up to the people of Peachtree Corners if they want to increase the program,” said Christ. “It will come at a price.”

Those in attendance indicated that they thought that would be money well spent. Several said they liked seeing marshals at city-sponsored events because it sent a message that Peachtree Corners is serious about keeping its residents and visitors safe.

Christ said he and the rest of the council would consider that, but he reminded everyone that they should still report crimes to the police.

“I’ve had people tell me that they left a message on the city’s answering machine on a Friday evening and hadn’t heard back,” he said. “I tell them the first step is always to call 911.”

Catch the episode of the UrbanEBB podcast featuring Edward Restrepo from this past January here:

Chief City Marshal Edward Restrepo: Explore the Future of Community Policing

Community

Peachtree Corners City Marshal’s Office Launches New Program to Curtail Vandalism at Town Center

Published

10 months ago

February 6, 2024

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

The City of Peachtree Corners’ Marshal’s Office, in conjunction with the Gwinnett County Police Department, is currently developing a program to address the increase in vandalism-related incidents at the Town Center and The Forum.

Over the past 45 days, several vandalism-related events have occurred in the stairwells of the Town Center parking deck. As a result of the vandalism, the Marshal’s Office has developed and implemented both a short-term and long-term solution.

As an immediate action, the Marshal’s Office placed temporary motion-activated cameras in strategic locations within the Town Center parking deck stairwells.

The placement of these cameras has led to the identification and capture of several of the individuals responsible for multiple incidents of tagging and graffiti that were occurring.

As a long-term solution, the city has installed video cameras that are equipped with geofencing, motion alerting, object detection and speaker features to aid in the identification of suspects as well as curtail any future vandalism of the deck and stairwells.

More recently, the Marshal’s Office has seen additional tagging and graffiti spread to other areas of the Town Center property. The city has deployed temporary solutions to other areas that have led to the successful identification of several suspects responsible for these illegal activities.

The City of Peachtree Corners and the Marshal’s Office want the public to understand that safety is of the highest priority and the destruction and defacing of city property will not be tolerated.

The city will continue to use the latest technologies and preventative strategies to ensure that visitors to the Town Center feel safe and have the best experience possible.

If any member of the public observes any illegal activity at the Town Center, The Forum, or any other locations within Peachtree Corners, the city urges them to contact 911 and report the incident.