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:

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.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2023 National Retail Security Survey, external theft, including organized retail crime (ORC), accounted for an average of 36% of retail sales losses in 2022. Now more than ever, brands and landlords alike are seeking tools to mitigate this issue.

Organizations such as the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) are advocating for both through Congressional support for the INFORM Consumers Act and S. 140/H.R. 895, the bipartisan “Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2023.”

In response to this rising threat, North American Properties (NAP) has invested in bridging software from two Atlanta-based companies, Flock Safety and Fusus, to enhance its security measures at The Forum Peachtree Corners.

“With our ongoing commitment to revolutionizing the retail real estate industry through technology and innovation, we are proud to partner with local municipalities and law enforcement agencies on curating secure communities for our guests, tenants and employees,” said Jay Richard-Yu, NAP director of innovation and digital assets.

“Technology has the power to automate workflows, and binding these assets will provide management with an advanced, interconnected approach toward combating ORC at The Forum,” he added. 

Flock Safety’s license plate recognition software

Co-founded by Georgia Tech alumni Garrett Langley and Matt Feury in 2017, Flock Safety is an all-in-one technology solution designed to eliminate crime and keep communities safe.

Flock License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras provide objective evidence to help solve crimes, 70% of which are committed with a vehicle, and prevent potential issues, including shoplifting, parking lot break-ins and vehicle theft.

The cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, not people or faces, and send real-time alerts to security personnel and/or law enforcement when a vehicle associated with a known offender or endangered person passes the camera.

Flock Safety is trusted by more than 4,000 communities across the country and has raised over $330 million in venture capital from leading firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Axon Bedrock Capital, and Matrix Partners, among others.

Furthermore, the company has recently achieved a ranking on the 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and has been acknowledged as one of the top 4% of companies on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies list.

The Forum has been equipped with Flock LPR cameras for two years, and NAP bolstered the property’s security infrastructure this fall through a public-private partnership with the City of Peachtree Corners, adding 27 external cameras across the site.

Streamlining critical communications with Fusus

To further streamline surveillance and communication processes between the onsite security team and local law enforcement, Fusus has also been integrated into the multi-layered camera system through its proprietary CORE appliance.

Fusus was Launched in Peachtree Corners during the summer of 2019 by U.S. Navy veteran Chris Lindenau, CEO, and U.S. Army veteran Anthony Baldoni, COO.

Fusus is a cloud-based, Real-Time Crime Center and Security Operations platform that extracts and unifies live video, data and sensor feeds from public and private sources, enhancing the situational awareness and investigative capabilities of law enforcement agencies.

Merging resources into a single, efficient and unified stream of information, Fusus allows for policy-based, intelligence-led policing and faster emergency response times.

Fusus currently powers over 250 crisis command centers globally. Earlier this year, the company was ranked 70th on Inc. Magazine’s list of 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies and named a Best Place to Work by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

It has also received several Stevie American Business Awards and ASTORS, the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security awards program.

Crime prevention in Peachtree Corners 

Recognized as this year’s 19th Best Place to Live for Families by Fortune Magazine, the City of Peachtree Corners recently implemented a Marshal Program to serve as a non-emergency force multiplier and liaison between the community and the Gwinnett County Police Department.

It has also deployed Connect Peachtree Corners, a new public safety program enabling local residents and businesses to register cameras within the community-wide network to aid local law enforcement in gathering timely evidence during active investigations. 

“The City has enhanced its camera program by deploying Automated License Plate Readers and cameras in strategic locations,” said Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason.

“The City’s Connect Peachtree Corners program for residents and businesses to register their cameras has been very well-received. The inclusion of The Forum within the Fusus platform will expand our ability to provide a high level of public safety,” he explained.

NAP acquired The Forum through a joint venture partnership with Nuveen Real Estate in March 2022 and has since increased its security coverage by 35% as part of an ongoing redevelopment effort. Learn more about the retrofit project here.

To view NAP’s mixed-use portfolio, visit leasing.naproperties.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn and X to keep up with happenings.