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Transcript

Valerie Fuller (Intro): 

You’re tuned in to the Clayton connected Podcast in Clayton County where the world lands and opportunities take off. 

Valerie: 

Good day and thank you for joining us on the Clayton connected Podcast. I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller, Communications Administrator in the Office of Communications for Clayton County Government Sector.  Today we have Sector 2 Captain Joshua Carr. Welcome! 

Captain Joshua Carr: 

Good morning. 

Valerie: 

We also have Ter’Stace Barnes, Officer Ter’Stace Barnes. Welcome! 

Officer Ter’Stace Barnes: 

Good morning. 

Valerie: 

And so, we’re here today to talk about all things Sector 2. So, what’s happening in Sector 2? What can residents look forward to? 

Captain Carr: 

Sector 2 is extremely interactive with our citizens. Commissioner Hambrick has many events where we invite the community out and we’ve got quite a few events that are scheduled this year. Specifically, we have a Hustle Fest coming up. 

Valerie: 

Hustle Fest. 

Captain Carr: 

Hustle Fest. 

Valerie: 

Okay. What’s Hustle Fest? 

Captain Carr: 

So, it is a youth entrepreneurial showcase. It is where the youth in our, in our county can come and showcase their business. We have a lot of kids that have various businesses where they’re either creating products or doing services and it allows them to network with other youth that are already in the market running their business. 

Valerie: 

Great place for mentorship.  

Captain Carr: 

It is. It’s a fantastic idea.   

Valerie: 

And we’re excited about our youth who are engaged in the community and willing to help one another and especially in business. You know there’s no one pathway to success right? So we’re grateful for that.  So, we’re looking forward to Hustle Fest. What day and time is Hustle Fest? 

Captain Carr: 

So, it is on March the 14th and it is between noon and 3 p.m. And the interesting thing is they’re going to actually showcase several businesses where they’re going to get to pitch their ideas. And they’ve got several sponsors that will actually award prizes to the entrepreneur with the best business. 

Valerie: 

Oh wow. A little bit like Shark Tank. 

Captain Carr: 

Kind of like Shark Tank. 

Valerie: 

I think I want to get in on that. So, that is from noon to 3 p.m. on March? 

Captain Carr: 

14th  

Valerie: 

At Virginia Gray Recreation Center. So, looking forward to that.  So, if you’re a youth or a parent who’s interested in your youth participating that has a business, contact? 

Captain Carr: 

There is a flyer that is going around where you can scan the QR code on the flyer and be able to register. 

Valerie: 

So, let’s talk about some of the challenges in Sector 2. What types of challenges do you see most often? 

Captain Carr: 

So, Sector 2 is comprised of various large roadways and we have a lot of the interstates that are running through the county. 

Valerie: 

Right. 

Captain Carr: 

So, we have traffic.  Is one of our main concerns but specifically our pedestrian traffic. We are seeing an increase in the number of pedestrians that are struck by vehicles and so with that we’re encouraging that our pedestrians follow the rules. 

Valerie: 

Right. 

Captain Carr: 

And they’re supposed to actually walk against traffic so they can see the vehicles coming.  

Valerie: 

Okay. 

Captain Carr: 

And alternatively, making sure that they’re using the crosswalks and that would be extremely beneficial for both the pedestrian safety as well as the safety of our drivers. 

Valerie: 

Very important because safety is the priority for everyone. That means the pedestrian as well as the drivers or the motorists who are on the highway. What area does Sector 2 cover? 

Captain Carr: 

So, Sector 2 covers the area from College Park to City of Forest Park. So, you have Forest Parkway and then we extend down to essentially just south of Highway 138. We have our main thoroughfares such as Riverdale Road, Highway 85. 

Valerie: 

Very busy areas. 

Captain Carr: 

Garden Walk Boulevard. Yes ma’am. 

Valerie: 

Right around the airport, Forest Parkway with the interstate traffic and then what was the other? 

Captain Carr: 

All the way down to 138. 

Valerie: 

All the way down to 138, which is also very busy. Yeah. So, another challenge that you mentioned was something dealing with Facebook market.  What are some of the issues or concerns that you’re seeing there with Facebook market? 

Captain Carr: 

So, we are seeing some crimes that are stemming from the use of Facebook marketplace. 

Valerie: 

And what is Facebook marketplace because everybody may not know what it is. 

Captain Carr: 

So, Facebook is a social media platform but the marketplace portion is where the users of Facebook can actually post different items that they’re selling and during that interaction the buyer and the seller discuss a meetup location. 

Valerie: 

Right. 

Captain Carr: 

And how they’re picking that meetup location is our concern that they’re picking places that put themselves at a very risky situation. And so we’re encouraging that anytime that you may want to use Facebook marketplace, one of the ways to discourage any kind of criminal activity that may stem from that such as a potential robbery. We’re encouraging that they simply just make use of our parking lot at our precincts and that goes for any of our sector precincts to include our headquarters. 

Valerie: 

So safe zones. Basically, for safe transactions for their protection and to legitimately be able to not just market what you’re selling but to be able to pick it up and with confidence knowing that you’ll be in a safe space if you’re at sector 2 or sector 3, 1, 4 or the headquarters. 

Captain Carr: 

I think it provides a little bit of legitimacy to the actual transaction. 

Valerie: 

Right. 

Captain Carr: 

If they’re not willing to meet at one of the police stations, it’s probably not a good idea with meeting up with the person. 

Valerie: 

Very, very, very good information to share with. What other challenges are you seeing in reference to residents’ homes or neighborhoods? 

Captain Carr: 

So specifically, we are seeing some of the same type of issues that other sectors are seeing. Specifically with vehicles we’re seeing an increase in our entering autos. We have been successful with capturing and making several arrests on our entering autos but we encourage that our citizens of course if they see something say something. 

Valerie: 

Right.  

Captain Carr: 

But we are seeing that a lot of the individuals that we are arresting on our entering autos tend to be youth and a lot of our entering autos are simply crimes of opportunity that can be avoided. Specifically, if you’re not locking your vehicle we’re going to encourage that you do lock your vehicle. 

Valerie: 

You absolutely should. 

Captain Carr: 

You should. 

Valerie: 

Lock your vehicle, protect your valuables and do what else? 

Captain Carr: 

If you have your valuables in the car you should secure them inside.  

Valerie: 

Always.  

Captain Carr: 

Always. 

Valerie: 

Always. 

Captain Carr: 

We’ve recently had some guns that were taken out of the vehicles that were not secured properly inside the residence. And so, we’re encouraging that they are secured properly and you know where all of your valuable properties would be. The issue with the entering autos is that many of them are occurring just simply because the vehicles were left unlocked. 

Valerie: 

Which is never a good option. 

Captain Carr: 

No. It’s not to say that you might not have your vehicle broken into, but it is at least going to try and prevent the crime of opportunity of somebody just reaching over and undoing the door handle. 

Valerie: 

There’s one more safeguard, right? 

Captain Carr: 

One more safeguard. 

Valerie: 

And we want our youth to be protective. We want them to be productive citizens and not involved in crimes of course. What message do we have for the youth and for parents because it’s a partnership between police, parents and community.

Captain Carr: 

It’s absolutely a partnership. Our message would be is that we truly collaborate making sure that the parents are aware of who the kids are hanging out with. Who they’re hanging around.  What they’re doing. Where they’re headed to. If you see your kids walking out of the house with a book bag and they’re not headed to school, you may want to be concerned about what they may have in the book bag. 

Valerie: 

And don’t be against checking it too. 

Captain Carr: 

Don’t be against checking. 

Valerie: 

Check those book bags before school. Check them after school and check them on the weekends when they’re home too. And like you say when they’re transitioning between home and you know maybe the mall or to a friend’s house. 

Captain Carr: 

But we definitely want to have that positive relationship with our kids. 

Valerie: 

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, one of the final questions is trainings for residents.  Are there any trainings that Sector 2 or the Police Department is offering for residents? 

Officer Barnes: 

Well, currently we are in our second week of the Citizens Police Academy which is a 10-week program. And it is held every Monday for 10 weeks from 6 to 7. And it’s basically allowing citizens to see what we do as law enforcement up close and personal.  So that way they don’t have to speculate based on what they may read on the internet or the news. 

Valerie: 

And get the information firsthand. 

Officer Barnes: 

Yep. Firsthand. 

Valerie: 

By being engaged and involved and again continuing that partnership between our resident’s community and the police that work to serve us every single day. So, thank you for what you do. What about trainings for safety? Any self-defense classes? 

Captain Carr: 

So, we have had many citizens reach out to us and they’ve shown interest. And so, we are, we are always looking for those type of ideas. And I believe that we are working to develop those type of courses so that we can offer them to our citizens.  But as of right now, there’s not any release date but it is something that we are currently evaluating to see how much interest we’re going to have. So that if we do put together the program, we’re able to continue that program in the future.  So, if you are interested let us know. We’d like to hear. 

Valerie: 

Well I’m definitely interested. So, you know I got to shoot out an email and see what we can do and get going. What about shooting? Any trainings for weapon or shooting training? 

Officer Barnes: 

Well, right now with the Citizens Police Academy we do allow you to go down to the range and do a simulation type training. So, you do kind of get firsthand on what we kind of deal with when we are in those situations where we do have to pull out a firearm. But it’s not a live firearm.  But that’s the only. 

Captain Carr: 

And the live firearm training is something that we have had citizens ask about. And so that is one of the programs that we are currently evaluating to see whether or not we can, we can put together the program. 

Valerie: 

Well, we are certainly looking forward to it. Captain Joshua Carr and Officer Ter’Stace Barnes thank you so much for joining us here on the Clayton connected Podcast. I know you’re gonna come back. 

Officer Barnes: 

Yes ma’am 

Valerie: 

And we have sector three up next so we’re looking forward to the next episode on the Clayton connected Podcast. Thank you for joining us. 

Captain Carr: 

Thank you for having me.  

Officer Barnes: 

Thank you.  

Valerie (outro): 

I’m your hostess Valerie Fuller.  Thank you for listening to the Clayton Connected podcast in Clayton Georgia where the world lands and opportunities take off!