MARTA officials defend security
Cite low crime totals, despite a few high-profile incidents
By PAUL DONSKY, CYNTHIA DANIELS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/09/07
Steven Bavec used to be a dedicated MARTA rider.
But last July, the financial analyst was attacked by two young men who followed him home from the Oakland City station in southwest Atlanta. Bavec, 50, was knocked unconscious and robbed.
He hasn't stepped foot on a MARTA train since the incident.
"There wasn't a patrol car there," Bavec said. "Had there been a patrol car, I would not have gotten attacked."
(Read more)
Security at Oakland City MARTA (next to my old house) is a sad, dangerous joke. Not long after Steve was assaulted, another of my neighbors was badly beaten INSIDE the station by two teens standing at the fare machine.
I've contacted police about crime at the station on more than one occassion. Officers I spoke to at APD said they were aware of a group young men preying on people at the station. Nevertheless, MARTA police did not have anyone permanently assigned to the station. According to the person I spoke to at MARTA, the officer assigned to Oakland City also had responsibility for the two adjacent stations. Translation: For roughly two-thirds of the day, there was no officer at Oakland City.
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2 comments:
MARTA security is a real joke. When the turnstiles were active, I remember waiting damn near an hour at Arts Center station to have an officer come open it up to retrieve my stuck card. Security hasn't gotten much better with the Breeze gates either. I can only imagine how much worse the situation with crime is out at Kensington and Avondale stations.
Hundreds if not thousands of employees, and you can ride the trains for a few days without seeing one at a station.
Ed Wall is the MARTA Chair person. His daytime job? Selling bonds to cities and counties. Conflict of interest? of course? Any media coverage on it? Nope. Even CL has dropped the ball on this whopper.
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