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Posts Tagged ‘police’

UPDATED: Tuesday weather update

Posted in emergency management, tagged , , , , , , on February 10, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

With more winter weather headed Decatur’s way, city officials continue to monitor the situation. As of this posting, tomorrow’s Municipal Court hearings will be held. and all after school programs will be open. Children and Youth Services is working closely with City Schools of Decatur and an update will be posted here on the Decatur Minute should anything change.

UPDATE:  City Schools of Decatur are now closed tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 11, so all after school programs are cancelled.

Trash & recycling pick up is expected to occur tomorrow as regularly scheduled.

Tomorrow morning’s Red Hatters Valentine’s event at the Decatur Recreation Center is cancelled, as are Tuesday’s evening programs. All Wednesday Recreation Center activities are cancelled.

There is the potential for power outages over the next few days, especially if precipitation freezes Tuesday night. If you have emergency equipment or electronics that need to be charged, please charge them now so you are prepared in case the power does go out.

Please remember to check on your neighbors, and call the police non-emergency line if you or they require assistance: 404-373-6551.

One final reminder: If you have ice melt/de-icer, please go ahead and pre-treat sidewalks in front of your home or business and help keep them clear as the weather worsens. It is possible that by Wednesday morning Decatur could have half an inch or so of snow. Please continue to check The Decatur Minute for weather updates and safety tips.

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Decatur closings, weather update

Posted in emergency management, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Decatur’s roads and sidewalks are ICY, so please stay where you are and avoid driving if at all possible. City crews treated roads overnight with salt and sand, but with the low tempatures refreezing occurred. If you decide to venture out for a walk today please be extremely careful, as sidewalks are more slippery than roads in many places around the city.

Today’s closings:

  • Decatur Recreation Center is closed today
  • Decatur Municipal Court is closed tonight. Please call 678-553-6655 to reschedule your hearing.
  • City Hall is operating with very limited staff.
  • The Design, Environment and Construction division of Public Works is closed today, as all staff that made it into work are focused on clearing roads, etc.
  • Tonight’s Town Hall meeting (“Review of the 2014 General Assembly Legislative Session”) hosted by state Rep. Rahn Mayo, state Rep. Howard Mosby and state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver is cancelled. It will be rescheduled at a future date.

The good news is that there were no car accidents, no trees down and no loss of power in the City of Decatur last night. The few people who were stranded yesterday were able to make it home ok. Public safety personnel were able to do a number of winter weather welfare checks on seniors and other vulnerable residents. (And as a reminder, if you have a senior neighbor, please be neighborly and check on him or her today.)

If you need emergency assistance during this winter weather, please call the police non-emergency number at 404-373-6551.

Please check back here later today for updates on the weather and possible closings tomorrow.

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Ice at corner of Commerce & N Candler

Posted in emergency management, tagged , , , , , , on January 28, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Be careful driving at the corner of Commerce and N. Candler. There is ice at this intersection and if you can avoid it please do. In fact, if you can avoid driving in general that would be the best thing, especially as temperatures drop and more freezing occurs.

The police non-emergency number is 404-373-6551.

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Be a good neighbor

Posted in emergency management, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2014 | 3 Comments »

Today’s weather is a good opportunity to re-post the following from Sgt. Ross with the Decatur Police Department:

Check On Seniors In Your Neighborhood

This is not a warning to the community that it is cold outside, we are all quite aware. This is a request for everyone to pitch in as a community and offer something that is free, a few minutes of your time. Many of us prep for cold weather by stocking the kitchen, picking up a space heater, throwing more blankets on the bed and tending to our plants and animals. However, it is not easy for every member of our community to prepare for or endure extremely cold weather. Please take a few minutes to check on the seniors in your neighborhood. See if you can bring in their mail or wood or something else they may need. Sometimes simply being checked on is greatly appreciated when staying indoors gets to be lonely. Lastly, a neighbor may need emergency assistance and unable to call for themselves. If you are caring for an elder loved one or simply watching out for seniors in your neighborhood, click here for some specific tips to help.

The police non-emergency number is 404-373-6551.

Here’s a round-up of today’s closings in the City of Decatur:

  • The Decatur library is closing today at 2 p.m.
  • The Decatur Recreation Center is closing at 5 p.m. Youth basketball and all afternoon and evening classes are cancelled. All Recreation Center classes and activities before noon tomorrow are cancelled.
  • Decatur Municipal Court is closed tonight. Please call 678-553-6655 to reschedule your hearing for a future date.
  • All City Schools of Decatur after-school programs and after-school activities have been canceled for this afternoon. All evening activities, athletics practices and games, classes, and meetings scheduled in the City Schools of Decatur are also canceled.

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State of the City postponed, other weather info

Posted in emergency management, tagged , , , , , , , on January 28, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Due to the threat of inclement weather, tonight’s State of the City address, hosted by the Decatur Business Association, is cancelled.  The new date will be announced once it is scheduled.

Tonight’s youth basketball practice, as well as afternoon and evening classes at the Decatur Recreation Center, are cancelled. The gym will close early today at 5 p.m. Wednesday morning classes and activities at the Recreation Center are likely to be cancelled as well. Please check the Active Living blog for the latest updates.

Snow is expected to begin falling this afternoon, and roads are expected to freeze. State routes will be the priority for road crews clearing streets, followed by major city streets. Residential streets will be the last to be cleared. City of Decatur residents are encouraged to clear the sidewalks in front of their property.

Thursday garbage and recycling pick up may be delayed, depending on road conditions. Please check back here for updates.

For any issues during the inclement weather, please contact the police non-emergency number at 404-373-6551.

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VIDEO: Carolers thank police & fire

Posted in Community, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Here’s a little something to get you in the holiday spirit: a video of Decatur kids singing “Jingle Bells” during their visit to the Decatur Police this week.

The children and their parents carol and deliver treats to the police department and fire stations every December to thank police officers and firefighters for their service to Decatur. Kavarna provided hot chocolate to the carolers and Atlantic Limo donated a bus to transport them around town. Mom Kristin Ebersold said, “We’re so lucky to have such competent & welcoming fire and police departments and generous local business owners.”

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YOUR Home for the Holidays

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

robber with santas bag

Sgt. Jennifer Ross with the Decatur Police Department sends along the following:

To burglars, the holiday season in particular, means that your home generally has more things to steal. Not a very joyful thought, but an unfortunate reality. You can choose to be paranoid and add to the stress of the holiday season or take the time to throw up a few more roadblocks to annoy or discourage potential burglars and then relax and enjoy yourself.

I found my dad to be the hardest person to buy for when I reached the age to actually go pick out gifts myself. I wish there had been home improvement store gift cards, light timers, motion sensor lights, higher end deadbolts, window pegs and recommendations to change out 6” screws for the standard 2” screws in lock strike plates and door hinges back in the day because it would have provided great gift options for my paranoid dad who also liked projects around the house. So maybe you can give the gift of safety to someone in your home or just take care of a few things yourself and celebrate the holidays with a little more peace of mind.

Here are a few tips to think about concerning YOUR home for the holidays. Remember to make safety a habit and not a headache!

  • Burglars do not want to spend more than a few minutes breaking into your home so lock all outside doors and windows before you leave the house or go to bed.  Even if it is for a short period of time, secure your home. USE THE DEADBOLT LOCKS, NOT JUST THE DOORKNOB LOCKS. Doorknob locks are easy to bypass.
  • Fortify your home by installing heavy duty locks, longer screws in the lock strike plates and door hinges, and install secondary security devices on all accessible sliding windows. This makes it harder to force in a door and requires a burglar spend more time making noise or looking for an alternate way in.
  • Trim back bushes and trees that provide burglars with concealment and keep police and neighbors from seeing someone lurking on your property.
  • If you have a burglar alarm, use it every time you leave your home, even if just for a few minutes.
  • Make your home look occupied when you are not there. Burglars do not like light.  Use motion sensor lights on the exterior and light timers on the interior.  If you are headed out of town, ask a neighbor to park one of their cars in your driveway.  Submit an “Out of Town House Check” and officers will check on your home while you are away.

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Package theft info

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

An important message from Sgt. Jennifer S. Ross, Community Information & Education Officer for the City of Decatur Police Department: 

packageWe have received several reports of package thefts from doorsteps in the past few days.

On Tuesday, 12-3rd packages were stolen from the doorsteps of two units at Talley Street Lofts. At one of the units, two packages were stolen and six were left behind with one of the six having been opened. (Delivered at approximately 2:30pm and discovered missing at 6pm)

On Thursday, 12-5th packages were stolen from the doorstep of a residence in the 200 block of Lansdowne Avenue. (Delivered at approximately 1:50pm and discovered missing at 4pm)

On Thursday, 12-5th a package was stolen from the doorstep of a unit at Talley Street Lofts, and two other packages were left behind. (Delivered at approximately 12pm and discovered missing at 7:30pm)

The stolen packages contained electronics, clothing, accessories and household items.  All of the stolen packages were delivered by UPS.

I know one of the biggest reasons many of us shop online is the convenience of having what we ordered shipped directly to us but unfortunately thieves use our timesaving efforts as a way to do a little “shopping” of their own, especially during the holiday season.  I have yet to recover the case of “Kind Bars” I ordered a few months back, in an effort to save a little money with a bulk sale price and free shipping, that sprouted feet and sent me on a personal investigation that lasted weeks and ended in me having $50.00 less than when I started and no Kind Bars.  Since parcel bandits are trying to intervene in our holiday fun, here are some tips to help prevent package thefts.

  • If possible, ship your packages to your work location or a location where you know someone will be there to receive the package such as the home of a friend or loved one who you know is home during the day.
  • Request that a signature be required to deliver the package.
  • Track your packages and ask a family member, friend or neighbor to look out and take the packages in when they arrive.
  • If you live at a location that requires passcode or keycard entry, do not let people you do not know tag-a-long behind you and enter the property.  If they are aggressive, do not confront them, call police immediately and provide a detailed description of the person, what they are wearing and where they were last seen.
  • If you observe people you do not recognize on a neighbor’s property, pay attention and if it appears they are removing packages, call police immediately and provide the same descriptive information and also watch to see if the person goes back to a vehicle and provide a description of the vehicle and their direction of travel.
  • Keep an eye out in your neighborhood for vehicles that appear to be following delivery trucks and stopping at locations where the delivery trucks just made a delivery.

Also, UPS offers an option to schedule your deliveries and receive an alert by voice, email or text message notifying you the day before your package will be delivered.  You can then reroute or reschedule the delivery if you need to do so.  Go to http://www.ups.com/mychoice/ to check out this option.

Another option is to have the package rerouted to a UPS Store. The store will hold the package until the consumer can go and pick it up.  Consumers can always change the delivery address on UPS.com or by calling 1-800-PICK-UPS.  Consumers can also request “signature required service” and UPS drivers will not deliver the package until they receive an adult signature.

If you are using a different shipping company, find out what options are available for a more secure delivery.  Monitor and inventory your deliveries and don’t assume your packages were sent in separate shipments.  In two of the three recent cases, some packages were stolen while some were left behind.

The non-emergency number for the Decatur Police Department is 404-373-6551.

(If you see my runaway case of Kind Bars cruising the city, let me know.)

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Fraud is NOT Festive

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

More holiday safety tips from Sgt. Ross:

fraud is not festive

The next topic in our Holiday Safety Series covers tips for online shopping.  Most of us are already busier than we should be without adding holiday shopping to the endless list of things we need “to-do”.  I don’t like considering holiday shopping a chore because that diminishes the very purpose of why I am shopping in the first place.  I try to make most of my holiday shopping a chance to spend time with friends, grab a bite, catch up and take care of our shopping lists.  However, I usually end up online trying to find a certain item, like the Spiderman shoes with illuminated eyes that arrived today for my 4-year-old Godson, and I know the risks.  I have been the victim of identity fraud twice in six years but the convenience of online shopping outweighs any paranoia I may have.  It is simply a way of life for many of us so just follow a few tips to try to reduce your risk.

  • Before surfing the Internet, secure your personal computers by updating your security software. Everyone’s computer should have anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-spam software, as well as a good firewall installed.
  • Use secure websites for purchases. Look for the icon of a locked padlock at the bottom of the screen or “https” in the URL address.
  • Shop with companies you know and trust. Check for background information if you plan to buy from a new or unfamiliar company.
  • Do not click on pop-up ads for surveys, prize offers or anti-virus alerts. This is a common way for your personal information to be grabbed or your computer to be infected.
  • After you have made your purchase, check your billing statements to monitor transactions: Immediately report any discrepancy to your bank

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FREE Self-Protection Workshop Jan. 8

Posted in Events, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

“Learn from a trained professional whose delivery style is nonstop, relevant and entertaining. He delivers the common sense approach to the unwelcome encounter! Become aware – identify the situation and plan how to remove yourself [escape] using readily available distraction tools.” – Beryl B. Farris, Immigration Attorney

The Decatur Police Department will be hosting a “Self-Protection Workshop” on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the Decatur Recreation Center (231 Sycamore Street, Decatur, GA 30030). Teens ages 13-17 are welcome to attend this workshop with a parent/guardian.

This workshop is designed to teach you how to be proactive, maintain awareness and be decisive during a violent confrontation. In the workshop, the presenter will cover:

  • Behavioral Profiling – Situational Awareness – Personal Security vs. Self-Defense
  • Mindset – Conditions of Readiness – Warning & Danger Signs of an Attack
  • Simple & Effective Self-Defense Techniques – Improvised weapons

The presenter of the workshop, Steven Mosley, has over two decades of law enforcement work experience and currently works locally for the Department of Homeland Security.  Steven is also the Director of Training for the Combat Hard Training Center in Jonesboro.

“When I was looking for someone to help my wife and I with dealing with some of the challenges that come up in our work in the course of our ministry with people who are sometimes unpredictable and violent and dealing with dicey situations in general I was pretty thorough in my vetting process because I was looking for someone who would give us a better chance of living through the real situations we face.  We need something that works.  I asked SWAT officers that I know from various police departments, veteran officers, GBI officers, and state troopers.  Steven’s name kept coming up, I called him, and found both a solid teacher, mentor, and friend.  I can’t recommend him highly enough.” – Nathan Dean, Co-Pastor, Edgewood Church

The “Self-Protection Workshop” is a lecture presentation and NOT a physical self-defense class. Informational flyers on self-defense classes through the Combat Hard Training Center will be available after the workshop.

Click here to register for the seminar or contact Sgt. Jennifer Ross at 678-553-6613.

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