The Castleberry Hill Public Safety Committee serves to coordinate public safety issues with the neighborhood and to act as a liaison with Police, Fire, EMS and other government services. The committee presents public safety updates, posts crime statistics, and coordinates activities to help make the neighborhood feel more safe and secure. The committee sends a representative to the NPU-M Public Safety meeting.
Castleberry Hill is in the Atlanta Police Department (APD) zone 5; which also covers Downtown, Georgia State, Georgia Tech and Atlantic Station. Castleberry Hill is in police beat 507; which is bounded by I-20, McDaniel St, Northside Dr, Joseph Boone Blvd, Marietta St & Ted Turner Dr. The police station for beat 507 is in the CNN center. Castleberry Hill is also served by Fire Station 1, which is at 71 Elliott St SW.
Meetings:
Attending a Castleberry Hill neighborhood association public safety meeting is a great way to get involved in the neighborhood, meet neighbors and learn about neighborhood issues. Meetings are the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7 PM, typically at Poco Mas at 180 Walker St SW. But check the calendar for updated meeting times and locations.
There is also a public safety meeting for NPU-M (Neighborhood Planning Unit M – Castleberry Hill, Downtown, Sweet Auburn & Old Fourth Ward); which covers parts of APD zones 5 & 6. These meetings are on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6 PM at the Helene Mills Senior Center at 515 John Wesley Dobbs Ave NE, just east of Boulevard Dr. These meetings also cover liquor license applications, and are typically attended by command staff from APD zones 5 & 6.
Programs & Info:
The Atlanta Police Department has a Clean Car Campaign program. Please do not leave items in your car in plain sight. Even leaving a bag with workout clothes on the seat can look like a potential laptop or tablet device and lead to a break in.
Smart911.com is used by emergency responders (police, fire & ambulances). You can go to this website to register your mobile phone to a physical address to make it easier for 911 operators to determine your home address. You can also enter door or gate codes for the emergency responders to gain access to your property. Personal medical information can be entered to help first responders with treatment, and pets can be entered so fire personnel know in case of evacuation. This information is only visible to emergency responders if they are called to your address. Smart911 needs you to log in at least every 6 moths to keep information current, but you will get a reminder email to do this.
NextDoor.com serves as an unofficial forum for the neighborhood. In the settings on NextDoor, you can set your profile to just get messages for certain categories, and you can get a daily digest email to reduce the number of emails if you wish.
Residents of Castleberry Hill are encouraged to call 911. When calling 911, you will be asked if you need police, fire or ambulance services. Give the address of where the issue is happening. Aside from obvious calls for crimes, 911 can be used to report noise violations, cars parked that block a garage gate, cars illegally parked, and other issues. You can also call 404-658-6666 when there is not a threat to life or property. Calling 311 can be used for requests for information, streets, water and power issues.
The City of Atlanta noise ordinance is part of the Atlanta, GA – Code of Ordinances, Chapter 74, Article IV. Click here for that information.
This noise ordinance requires that noise levels during the daytime should not be audible 200 feet from the property line, and at 50 feet at night (nighttime starts at 9 PM). There is also a method to measure noise levels with a meter, but either method can be used. Noise between units in a multi-dwelling building has a slightly different noise limit. If calling 911 for a noise issue, you can call anonymously, and the patrol officer will ask that the noise be turned down; but generally the noise will go back up a little while later. A longer term solution is to ask to talk to the officer, and tell them that you want to file a complaint and have a citation issued. When using this method, make sure the citation has a “from” address along with the offending address, so the city solicitor can correctly process this. Also, if the patrol officer responding to a 911 call does not know how to handle this, you can call 911 again and ask to speak with a supervisor.
Code violations are handled by the APD Code Enforcement Section. Code violations are for private property, and do not cover the public right-of-way (basically streets and sidewalk). Items that might typically be reported are weeds over 12″, trash, debris, old furniture and appliances, junk vehicles (flat tires, missing license plates) or vehicles not parked on an all-weather surface such as grass or dirt. These violations can be reported online here or by email to CodesRequests@AtlantaGa.gov, or by phone to 404-330-6190 (Mon-Fri 8:15AM-5PM). If you know the owner of the property, giving this info will considerably speed up the process.
The Atlanta Department of Public Works handles problems with public property and along the public right-of-way – basically the streets & sidewalks. Typically this is to report potholes, debris, street lights not working on a METAL pole, and traffic lights not working. They can be contacted at 404-330-6333 or PublicWorks@AtlantaGa.gov. If using email about traffic light outages, put “UNSAFE” in the subject line. Trash pickup is handled by the Atlanta Office of Sanitation – they can be contacted at 404-330-6250.
For street lights not working on a WOODEN pole, call Georgia Power at 888-660-5890 or contact them on the web at CustomerService.southerncompany.com/Outage/Streetlight After hours, you may get an automated response system on the phone. In that case, you will need to provide the following voice prompts when prompted:
“Help me with something else”.
“Outdoor lighting”.
“Problem with outdoor lighting”.
When asked if the light is on your property say “no”.
Click here for tips for improving security of fencing and doors
Contacts:
CHNA Public Safety Committee
Mark Williams – Chair – PublicSafety@castleberryhill.org – 404-966-6275
NPU-M Public Safety Committee
Dorthey Hurst – Co-Chair – PublicSafety@NpumAtlanta.org
Scott Barfield-McGinnis – Co-Chair – Barfield.McGinnis@gmail.com
Atlanta Fire Rescue Department
Station 1 – 71 Elliott St SW. – Engine 1 & Truck 1 (the ladder truck) both respond to more calls than any other in Atlanta.
Atlanta Police Department Zone 5
Zone 5 Mini-Precinct – CNN Center – 404-658-7830
Major Scott Kreher – Zone 5 Commander – MKreher@AtlantaGa.gov
Captain Reginald Moorman – Zone 5 Assistant Commander – RMoorman@AtlantaGa.gov
Officer Robert Stack – Beat Officer 6 AM to 2 PM weekdays – RJStack@AtlantaGa.gov – twitter #5231 @Atlanta_Police
Inspector Selena Swoope – SSwoope@AtlantaGa.gov – Zone 5 Community Oriented Policing Section (COPS) – Community policing, neighborhood watch and quality of life.
Sgt Caroline Tanksley-Gibbs – CTanksley-Gibbs@AtlantaGa.gov – Special Events & Street Closures.
Investigator D.A. Jenkins – DAJenkins@AtlantaGa.gov – 404-658-6636 – Criminal Investigations Division – send pictures, video and investigation info.
APD Code Enforcement
Major Van Hobbs – Commander – VHobbs@AtlantaGa.gov
Lt. Joe Cummings – Assistant Commander, 404-546-3086, JCummings@AtlantaGa.gov
Zone 5 Community Prosecutor
Niaa Daniels – Assistant District Attorney – Niaa.Daniels@FultonCountyGa.gov
Norfolk Southern (railroad) Police
800-453-2530 – The railroad police are very responsive to issues on railroad property.
MARTA Police
404-848-4911 – Marta has a “See & Say App” for iOS & Android.
You can also text info to 404-334-5355.