Atlanta is not only the capital of Georgia, it is also the state’s most populous city with a population of more than 6 million. The city that sprawls over 134 sq miles is broken up into 242 neighborhoods that fit into 3 urban business districts, Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. On the northside of Atlanta, Buckhead is the smallest of the city’s commercial districts. It’s also where the majority of Atlanta’s residential neighborhoods, 43 in total, can be found. Buckhead falls into Zone 3 of the Atlanta City Police Department divisions. A wide range of private security firms can also be found in the Buckhead business district. In December of 2020, a consortium of residents, officials, and local organizations announced plans to increase the security of the neighborhoods in Buckhead.

Called the Buckhead Security Plan (BSP), the goal is to return a sense of community and safety to a city that has seen a lot of unsettlement this past year. Atlanta was experiencing an increase in crime over the last few years. By 2018, city officials were starting to see a decrease in crime. But as the BSP states, “In the wake of a global pandemic, with shifting attitudes toward law enforcement and public decorum, Atlantans have seen many of those gains disappear in 2020. As a consequence, the quality of life for those living in, working in, and visiting popular Atlanta neighborhoods, such as Buckhead, has suffered. This plan represents Buckhead’s effort to do its part in promoting safety and security for all Atlantans while working to reclaim the quality of life that each resident has come to expect.”

As head of the Buckhead Coalition and the Buckhead Community Improvement District, Jim Durrett is leading the organization of the BSP. On February 4, 2021, Durrett announced that Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had expressed her support and that $750,000 of the plan’s $1.625 million program had already been raised. The funds raised would be going towards bolstering existing police and security means, increasing patrol cars and security cameras, supporting community youth centers, and exploring new security tactics. One new tactic discussed came about through a conversation Durrett had with representatives from shopping mall owners Simon Property Group. “A few months ago, in a conversation with Simon representatives in Indianapolis, we had a discussion about technology that Simon was considering employing at their properties, including drones,” Durrett said. “It was a wide-ranging discussion about how Simon was exploring new technology that could be deployed to deter criminal activity, and we agreed that Lenox Square might be a good location to pilot new technology, including drones.”

Located on Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead, Lenox Square Mall is a 4 level, 1.5 million sq ft mall complete with a large food court and just under 200 stores. Its anchor stores are Nieman Marcus, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s. The mall, and its surrounding shopping centers, are one of the premier retail centers in Atlanta bringing in more than $3 billion a year. However, in 2020 Lenox Square was also the site of 7 shootings, making it a location in dire need of increased security. In response to these shootings, Lenox Square has already introduced metal detectors, gun sniffing dogs, and new security cameras with technology that can recognize the presence of a gun and alert authorities automatically.

Durrett did not go into details as to what type of drone program would be used at the mall. What he did say was that Lenox Square Mall would be an ideal pilot site for the “novel utilization of drones to have additional eyes in certain areas.” The same weapon identification and alert software that is being used with indoor security cameras can also be used with a drone’s camera. If a weapon is identified inside the building, the alert would be triggered to the drone as well. If the suspect leaves the premises, the drone can be used to confirm if a weapon is still in play and maintain visual contact with the suspect until authorities arrive. And while it is now standard practice for most police officers to wear body cams, having that extra eye in the sky provides a higher degree of accountability.

Durrett said that it is still hard to explain the influx of crime in the Atlanta region. “It’s a combination of COVID, and it’s the number of guns that are out there,” he said. “It’s the gap that we have in the city of Atlanta between those who have and those who have not, including having not the hope that their condition can improve.” Through the BSP, Durrett aims to give the people who visit Atlanta or call it home a return of hope and safety. While the BSP is being spearheaded by the Buckhead Coalition and the Buckhead Community Improvement District, Durrett and his team are well aware that it is the whole of Atlanta that needs healing right now. Part of the BSP includes assisting surrounding neighborhoods. If the Lenox Square drone pilot program proves successful, other Atlanta communities may start using drones in the future to keep people safe.

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