About Brookhaven reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2013)
COMMUNITY City divided into six police beats as force beefs up BH MELISSA WEINMAN melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net MELISSA WEINMAN Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura shows a map of the city’s newly- created six police beats to members of City Council on June 11. Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura has created a map for fu ture police coverage when officers hit the streets this summer. At the City Council’s June 11 meeting, Yandura showed the coun cil a map dividing the city into six police beats. Yandura said he used natural boundaries like roads and creeks as well as crime statistics to create the coverage map. “What we ended up with is six zones,” Yandura said. Yandura said the goal is to have a three-minute emergency response time per beat. “It’ll be pretty good coverage, and a lot more than people are used to seeing,” Yandura said. Mayor J. Max Davis was pleased with Yandura’s map. “The way you set up these beats makes a lot of sense and I’m very impressed. This is exactly what I would do,” Davis said. The officers within each beat will be flexible to respond to emer gency calls throughout the city or may be reassigned for special events, such as the Brookhaven Bolt 5K race, Yandura said. “There will be one officer in each of these areas that will be permanently assigned, the rest will be kind of floating,” Yandu ra said. The Brookhaven Police Department is still looking at an official startup date in late July or early August, Yandura said. When fully staffed, there will be nine officers and two sergeants assigned to each shift. There will be four, 12-hour shifts, Yandura said. All of the supervisors for the depart ment have been hired, Yandura said, and 18 officers have been identified. He said police officials are conducting about 40 interviews a week with potential officers to finish staffing the department. “Out of every 10 interviews we han dle, two to three make it through the cy cle to give you an idea about the level of scrutiny,” Yandura told the council. “It’s what we have to do to find the best officers. We’re being very selective in the process,” said Deputy Police Chief Ron Freeman. Officials plan to hire more than 50 officers for Brookhaven’s police depart ment. Buckhead streetcar plan could return BV COLLIN KELLEY The long-dormant plan to run a streetcar line on Peachtree from Buck- head to downtown Atlanta could be res urrected if the Atlanta Streetcar project proves to be a success. Tom Weyandt, senior transportation advisor with the city of Atlanta, said there is no timetable or funding for the expan sion, but discussions about east/west and north/south expansion are ongoing. The downtown streetcar route, now under construction, will eventually run 2.7 miles from Centennial Park to the King Center and have 12 stops along the way. Weyandt said the city is talk ing about an east-west expansion that will connect the system to the Atlanta BeltLine. “The likely first extension will be to the east, since the BeltLine is only about 2 Vi blocks away,” Weyandt said, noting that nearly two years’ worth of environ mental studies will have to be completed before any extension is made. Your Choice. First Come Basis Only. Handsome selection of very low mileage Certified Pre-Owned C-Class models. All nicely equipped and some with Navigation. While they last. ^ People Drive Us. Mercedes-Benz of Buckhead mercedesofbuckhead.com r 109 . T' ^ Tube 2799 Piedmont Road | Atlanta, Ga 30305 404-846-3500 2012 Mercedes-Benz C250s 30 to Choose ■ B* - Ldj^H 6 6 In 2008 I was the new doctor in town. The Reporter brought in my first patients. They told their friends and family. Since then it has been a snowball... no, an avalanche effect. Thanks, Reporter Newspapers! My practice is flourishing and I couldn’t be happier!? 9 - Melissa Babcock, M.D., Babcock Dermatology 'O Newspapers With 130,000 readers in four great communities, Reporter Newspapers work for our advertisers! To find out how your business can benefit, contact publisher Steve Levene at 404-917-2200, ext. Ill or email publisher@reporternewspapers.net. www.ReporterNewspapers.net Y L ^4 BABCOCK! IVY J BK www.ReporterNewspapers.net | JUNE 14 — JUNE27,2013 | 3
