A Little Proactiveness May Go A Long Way

You probably don't know him, but you've seen his work — or rather his mark — on the streets of Atlanta, particularly the Little Five Points neighborhood.

He goes by "Guber" tagging buildings, street posts, light poles and other canvases of concrete and steel.

There are are a couple of other graffiti artists "Vomet" and "Riot" who tag various properties around the city, too.

It's these low-level nuisance crimes officers assigned to the Community Liaison Unit of the Atlanta Police Department's Community Oriented Policing Section will focus on.

The unit, which will number 50 when fully staffed, was created following an the city obtained to hire more police.

They will focus on quality of life issues, such as graffiti and panhandling to noise and trash.

The hope is that by focusing on these low-level public safety problems, the unit will free up other officers to spend more time on more serious crimes.

By being proactive — officers will go to community meetings and check in with business owners and residents on a regular basis — APD officials believe they will keep little problems from becoming magnets for larger issues and foster better police-community relations.

Last week, East Atlanta Patch shadowed two officers — L. Smith and L. Amarena — assigned to the Community Liaison Unit as they met with business owners and managers in the the Little Five Points and Poncey-Highland neighborhoods.

The issues ran the gamut from people squatting on private property on Euclid Avenue to someone dumping trash and defecating behind a Moreland Avenue gas station.