[speaker001:] , how do you feel about crime in the city? You say you're from Atlanta.
[speaker002:] Right, I, I, I actually I live in the city
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and, uh, I guess it is a concern of mine, uh, you know, for my own safety.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. I mean, do you, do you find crime in Atlanta really I live in Atlanta also.
[speaker002:] Well that's right. Uh. *slash error
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] Uh, I think it is bad in certain areas, *sv however I think, the area that I live in it's not, uh, the crime level is not as high as it is in other areas of the, of the city.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I think it seems that there's certain areas where, uh, the crime is focused
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh.
[speaker001:] Well what do you think can be done about the crime in the city?
[speaker002:] Well, I think it's, what's been happening over the last several years it seems they've been beefing up the police patrols, trying to put, put more guys, more cops, higher visibility, and, uh,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] they've had some impact, but not a tremendous amount, and probably, um, they need to try to increase community involvement, that sort of thing, I think.
[speaker001:] I probably agree with that.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] You know, particularly in some of the housing projects, uh, you know, that's, that tends to be where a lot of that crime is focused
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and they've got to do more than just having, having cops there. They've got to kind of change the way people think about it.
[speaker001:] Yeah, that's probably true. Um, so, um, well do you think Atlanta's as bad as most other cities?
[speaker002:] Um, well, I've been to, I'd say it's, it's probably in the top, top ten in terms of crime. Um, it's nowhere near as bad as New York City
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] for example. Probably not, not as bad as Detroit.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. I don't think it's as bad as L A either.
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] We, I don't think we have as much of the gang problem as a lot of the other cities have.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that seems to be true. Um, yeah, if you've ever been to like New York City and
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] you can just, you can just, as you walk through the street on a given evening, you can see crimes being committed.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] It's that obvious.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I don't know, I came to the conclusion also that, you know, just, if you are walking in a downtown area, you know, where there's a lot of crime, a lot of that's going to just, just keeping your senses about you and, and trying not to look like a victim, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah, that's true.
[speaker001:] You know, walk bi-, you know, walk with, you know, with
[speaker002:] With a big stick or.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] just walk in a confidently, and, you know, don't, don't be
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] looking around like you've never been there before
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] and you have no idea where you are.
[speaker002:] Right, don't, don't walk down a, an alley or don't get
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] just try to keep yourself out of a bad situation
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] but, yeah, there are times when you can't avoid all that
[speaker001:] Uh.
[speaker002:] and, and then you're kind of on your own [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah. have you, have you ever, have you ever been mugged in Atlanta?
[speaker002:] Uh, no. The only thing I've ever had, was I've had my wallet lifted
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] but that was in a more of a, a setting where there was a number of people around, and I kind of got, I was much younger at the time
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and kind of a couple of people, they just took it from me without me knowing really
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and kind of passed it off, so I didn't know who had it.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I've had that happen, but that's, that's about it.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I've been pretty lucky about getting mugged. Um.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I think I've only actually seen like one, you know, one actual robbery with a gun
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] and that's been about the only, you know, real violent crime where, you know, potentially violent crime that I've seen in Atlanta.
[speaker002:] Really, well, I've had my.
[speaker001:] And that was just a guy running out of a store that he just robbed.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. I've had my car stolen, so maybe that counts.
[speaker001:] Oh, really.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Oh, where was, where, where was that? Was that downtown or,
[speaker002:] Oh no, that was in the northern p-, um, up near Cumberland Mall area.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] It's actually Cobb County, but it is Atlanta
[speaker001:] Metropolitan, yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh, there's a lot of car thefts in that area.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I've actually, I've known, known some people that have had their cars stolen. Uh, and, uh, and, you know, about half the time they seem to, the A P D seems to recover them, you know
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] in various states of disrepair [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Up on blocks. [LAUGHTER] My friend had a V W Rabbit, and when he, when he got it back his, um, dashboard was sitting in the front seat [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah, mine was just, it had been wrecked and some superficial type damage, but they didn't, they didn't strip it
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] so I got it back.
[speaker001:] Well, you're probably luckier than.
[speaker002:] Yeah, than most.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Um, so like does insurance pay for the body damage, or
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] was that all there was, body.
[speaker002:] It was about three grand to put everything together. They cracked the steering column of course, to steal the car.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah, you got to, you crack the steering column and you pull the, there's a pin in there that you can pull on these G M cars
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and you can start it up, basically pretty easily.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. So how do you know this much about, um, stealing cars?
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Well, after I found mine I had to, I had this,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].