Study says a Tucker Police Department could match or exceed DeKalb services

A map shows the area currently being covered by the DeKalb Police Tucker Precinct in red and Tucker s city borders in blue Photo by Northlake-Tucker CID A inhabitants safety and feasibility review led by the Tucker-Northlake Group Improvement District concludes that that a city police department is economically feasible and could increase response times significantly The investigation commissioned by the Tucker-Northlake CID in January with funding from groups that included the Tucker Summit CID Tucker Civic Association Tucker Business Association and Tucker Main Street Alliance analyzed two years of dispatch records interviewed business and civic leaders and compared Tucker s current policing structure with those of neighboring cities according to a release from the Tucker-Northlake CID Northlake-Tucker CID Executive Director Matthew Lee described Rough Draft that the assessment which was distributed Sept came about because of a gradual buildup of concerns about crime in the Tucker area with no clear path forward Related stories Main Street businesses burglarized again Tucker mayor warns burglars We will make your lives miserable We respect the work of the DeKalb County Police Department but we are looking for solutions that that best serve our group Lee noted The summary declared the CID has kept DeKalb County Police and Tucker bureaucrats informed throughout the process We appreciate their stewardship over taxpayer information and interest in our vision to make Tucker the safest society in DeKalb and one of the safest in metro Atlanta the overview announced Lee reported the examination conducted by the Georgia Department of Chiefs of Police had several key takeaways concerning response times for calls when comparing it to cities that had their own police department The research located that DeKalb dispatch times for Tucker were times longer than Brookhaven and times longer than Dunwoody based on an analysis of about calls for provision In addition DeKalb Police response times for high-priority calls in Tucker were times longer than Brookhaven and times longer than Dunwoody Lee mentioned Tucker property owners in paid DeKalb County million in taxes for police services compared to Brookhaven s million and Dunwoody s million Both cities have larger populations than Tucker The inquiry estimates that a city-run department could be launched for about million which includes salaries vehicles mechanism and equipment That number did not include several common elements of other city-run departments like K- units drone equipment or a real-time crime center Lee mentioned However with million available the difference between DeKalb and the Tucker cost estimate there would be wiggle room for additional services Lee announced The review recommends hiring sworn officers and civilian staff in the first year running a -hour shift model as opposed to DeKalb s -hour shifts Another dilemma that would be addressed by a dedicated department would be coverage area Lee disclosed The DeKalb s Police Tucker Precinct right now serves square miles which includes areas outside city limits A Tucker force would exclusively cover the city s square miles Since the Northlake-Tucker PCID along with funds supplied by District DeKalb County has paid for off-duty police officers to patrol the CID s designated area which covers about square miles Ideally we would not need this with a designated police force Lee disclosed It would be great for us to get out of the society safety business An open forum sponsored by the Tucker Civic Association regarding the survey will be held on Sept at Northlake Church of Christ Cooledge Rd in Tucker Rough Draft Atlanta has reached out to Tucker city administrators for comment on the review The post Survey says a Tucker Police Department could match or exceed DeKalb services appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta