Annexation Series: Policing the Area

Updated Oct. 21

This is part of Norcross Patch’s five-part series about the potential annexation of an area roughly along Mitchell Road, east of Buford Highway up to I-85, into the City of Norcross. We'll re-run the series this week, in preparation for the Nov. 8 vote. We've already looked at , , and . 

When Mayor Pro Tem Ross Kaul laid out the plan for the annexation of the area along Mitchell Road into the City of Norcross last November, he pointed to more control over the city's future, better service strategies and more control over crime as reasons to support the measure.

"There are areas of unincorporated [Norcross] that we all know have been negative," said Kaul. He said that crime “spills” into the city through the southeast corner, which would be taken in by the city if the residents of the now unincorporated area vote in favor of the measure on Nov. 8.

According to data obtained from the Gwinnett County Police Department, 989 case reports were filed in the area being considered for annexation from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1, 2010. The city estimates the population of the area to be between 3,000 and 3,600 residents. This puts the number of crimes per person between .329 and .27.

The City of Norcross Police filed 2,940 case reports when covering their estimated 10,500 residents in the same time period, according to data obtained from the records department. This puts the number of crimes per person at .28 in that area.

Cpt. Brian Harr of the Norcross Police Dept. said he is not surprised that the numbers are similar. “Crime doesn’t know any boundaries,” he said, adding that the agencies don’t know what each other are doing, creating a problem police such a fragmented area.

Residents of the potentially annexed area say that additional crimes do occur that may not be responded to by Gwinnett. Glenda Young, a teacher at Norcross High School who lives on Station Circle, has been vocal in her support of the annexation.

"Where I live is just a no-man's land," said Young. "It is on the fringes of Gwinnett County, but I don't see police officers." Young said that when she has reported incidents to the police she had to spend crucial time convincing them that she was in an area patrolled by Gwinnett County and not the City of Norcross.

That sentiment was recently . Others have said that Gwinnett Police are doing a fine job, so they don't feel the need to pay for the additional service. 

“I’ve had no problem with police and fire—I have no complaints with county services,” said Juanita Cannon, a resident of Springdale Estates since 1968, at the on the subject. 

According to the annexation plan, which is available on the city's website, the police department would hire three new officers and two new civilian communications officers to cover the turf, bringing the total number of officers from 48 to 52. 

Kaul said that Gwinnett County has .7 police officers per 1000 citizens; the city of Norcross currently has 3.8 officers per 1000 citizens, a ratio that they hope to keep up if the measure passes.

“Doesn’t matter where you are in the city limits, our response time is about two to three minutes. We’re very proud of that,” said Harr. He said the response times in the area proposed for annexation would essentially be the same.

“We’re expecting an increase in calls between 20 and 30 percent,” said Harr. He said that they track crimes almost daily using uniform crime reports, so they will be able to keep close tabs on the numbers.