Who is eligible to join the East Atlanta Security Patrol?
Currently, the Security Patrol only serves households and businesses within the EACA membership boundaries. And within those boundaries, only those served by the Atlanta Police Department. However, you do not have to be a member of EACA to join the Security Patrol. The geographic membership area of EACA shall have a west border of Moreland Avenue, north to I-20. The northern border shall be I-20 to Flat Shoals Road, where the border will go east of I-20 to include that portion of the City of Atlanta east of I-20. From there, the eastern border will be Fayetteville Road to Eastland Road and its intersection with Moreland Avenue.
Why should I join the East Atlanta Security Patrol?
The main reason to join is to make for a safer neighborhood. Yes, we already pay taxes and expect police protection, but other neighborhoods like Grant Park have seen reductions in residential crimes of over 50% since starting a similar patrol. It is a fact of life that we don't have enough police officers to enable quick response to crimes occurring in our area. Joining the Security Patrol is a way for East Atlanta to have officers dedicated to our area who will respond to 911 calls immediately, and to provide a more visible presence in the community.
Who is the person in the patrol car?
The person cruising the neighborhood will always be an off-duty Atlanta Police Department officer in uniform. All officers working for the Security Patrol are familiar with the neighborhood and we give the highest priority to using experienced officers currently employed in Zone 6. While we had hoped to have actual police cruisers used for the Security Patrol, there are a number of reasons that is not feasible. However, Security Patrol vehicles can be identified by the magnetic East Atlanta Security Patrol emblem on each side of the officer's vehicle.
What hours will the Security Patrol operate?
The Security Patrol hours vary, but patrols of residential areas are mostly during daylight hours when the largest number of residents will be at work. We don't want to publicize the exact hours of operation, but patrols of member residences will not occur frequently at night or on the weekend unless crime patterns require it. However, we meet with the Atlanta Police Department every two weeks to make certain that extra protection is offered during peak crime periods and in peak crime areas. We speak with APD more frequently and adjust patrol times and areas of emphasis any time it's required. Currently, we have about 30 hours of coverage per week. We will add more patrol hours as we get more members and more business sponsors.
Patrol hours for the Village area are based on the ongoing needs of the participating businesses, as well as the level of funding we receive from member households.
How does the Security Patrol work?
During each shift, the patrol will drive by your house at least once, possibly more. If you're on vacation, the Security Patrol officer will have that information and will pay extra attention to your residence. The other thing that increases the likelihood of the officer driving past your house is the quantity of neighbors that sign up in a given area or street. Several streets have aggressively signed up members, and those areas receive at least two patrols per shift.
If crime increases in a given area of East Atlanta, we will shift more patrol attention to that area in an effort to reduce or eliminate the problem, yet still take into account the needs of paying members.
If a crime is committed at the home of a non-member, particularly a burglary or violent crime, the patrol officer will respond if at all possible. The major difference between a member and a non-member is that the Patrol serves as more of a crime deterrent for member households, focusing on their homes during times when they aren't responding to calls.
How quickly will a Security Patrol officer respond to my call?
If a Security Patrol officer is on duty when a 911 call comes in, the officer will proceed immediately to your house or place of business. This is likely to take no more than 5 minutes. For residential burglaries, an on-duty APD officer may not arrive at your home for 30 minutes or longer. Security Patrol officers are dedicated only to East Atlanta; they don't have to respond to calls in other parts of Zone 6.
Who should I notify if I'm going to be out of town?
If you are going to be out of town, let us know no later than 6:00 pm on the day prior to your departure. An EASP officer will check your home on foot at least once during every shift. The preferred method of notifying EASP is by attaching an out of town patrol form to an e-mail and sending it to easp610gmail.com.
We will accept either a Word version or a PDF version of the out of town patrol form. You can also fax a copy of the out of town patrol form to EASP at 866-274-1827. If you wish for EASP to forward the out of town patrol form to Zone 6 and/or Safe Watch, check the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the form. If you elect the Safe Watch option, citizens affiliated with Safe Watch will patrol your block (they will be told to patrol the 1500 block of Glenwood) rather than be given an exact address such as 1520 Glenwood.
You continue to have the option to fax the Zone 6 version of the out of town patrol form directly to APD, but this is an extra step and requires a fax machine. It's much easier to e-mail the form to EASP and have us forward it to Zone 6 and/or Safe Watch.
Once we receive your out of town patrol form, we will send you an e-mail confirmation to verify that your request has been processed.
If you don't have someone to pick up your mail and newspaper each day, you may fill out forms online to temporarily halt service. You can have mail held by going to the USPS website. You can stop the paper at the AJC website.
How do I contact the Security Patrol?
The Security Patrol can be reached several ways. You may submit questions or vacation notifications via the Contact link on the lefthand side of any page on our website. You may send an e-mail to easp610gmail.com. You may also call 404-954-1568. Also feel free to ask questions at any EACA meeting. Regardless of the means of contact, you will receive a response within 48 hours. Please keep in mind that this is a volunteer effort. Most of us have families and jobs. We all love East Atlanta and want to make it a safe place for residents, business owners and visitors.
When will I receive my yard sign?
For new members, yard signs are delivered prior to the start of each entry date. Entry dates into the Security Patrol are the first of each month. If you sign up on March 10th, you will have your sign prior to beginning membership on April 1st.
Why can't I update my personal information online?
This issue was wrestled with frequently over the course of the past couple years while the formation of the Security Patrol floundered. To simplify things and eliminate the need to rely on volunteer programming staff or worry about the security of your personal information, we have set up an offline database to track member information and payments. This database also facilitates the creation of reports required to operate the patrol.
When do I receive my renewal notice?
Renewal notices are sent by e-mail approximately one month prior to the expiration of your membership. We send two more e-mail notices if necessary prior to your membership running out. Just before your coverage expires, we will make one final attempt to reach you by mail or by phone. Failure to pay by the renewal date will result in an immediate loss of coverage, the reclaiming of your yard sign and a refund of your initial fee of $15.
Can I pay using my online bill pay service?
Absolutely! In fact, we encourage you to do so since it costs us nothing while PayPal fees take away money that could be used for more patrol hours. It's also easier for us to administer since most payments will be sent to us electronically. If you bank with Bank of America, Suntrust or USAA (and many others), we generally will receive your payment the next business day. If it doesn't appear that your payment will arrive the next day, it's probably not electronic and your bank will send us a paper check.
May I add more addresses to your e-mail list?
Of course! However, we do ask that you limit the addresses to those specifically linked to residents of member households or owners and management of member businesses. Just contact us and we'll be happy to add an address to our list. Also, please be aware that the underlying database being used to maintain the e-mail list is shared with EACA. Some members have one e-mail address for the Security Patrol and another for the EACA newsletter. If that is the case, just let us know and we can consolidate both at one address. Or if you are a member of the Security Patrol and are not receiving the EACA newsletter, please let us know and we can add you to the EACA list.
