Peachtree Corners, Ga. — Patrolling the streets is no walk in the park for Chief Edward Restrepo. Peachtree Prior to serving as Chief Sheriff of Corners, he worked for the Gwinnett County Police Department for over 26 years.
He recently sounded the alarm about repeated vandalism, especially at two popular shopping centres. Both the Forum and Town Center parking lots have been damaged several times in the past two months, Restrepo said.
“There were some bad guys, but from what we’ve seen, most of the tagging seems to be juveniles,” Restrepo said. “There is nothing to believe it is gang related.”
Taggers are repairing walls and other surfaces, covering up old graffiti with new gray paint. Restrepo said he forgot to count the total number of tags and warned those responsible could face prosecution.
“It’s a little bit disturbing, you know? You don’t know exactly what they’re doing and you don’t know how people will react when they see it,” Restrepo said.
The Peachtree Corners Sheriff’s Office said they started noticing the tagging several months ago. However, criminal activity has increased in recent weeks.
In response, the Peachtree Corners Sheriff’s Office has invested thousands of dollars in short- and long-term solutions to fill the gaps where the Gwinnett County Police Department is not covering and enforcing local city ordinances.
Restrepo said the department partnered with the Gwinnett County Police Department to install trail cameras in parking lots and around nearby trails. To curb crime, more high-tech wired cameras will be equipped with motion detection, geofencing, and speaker systems.
“When things move, you get alerts depending on how you sense it,” Restrepo said. “Eventually, we’ll be able to discuss it. So if you see a large group of people gathered together for an extended period of time, you can ask them over the loudspeaker what they’re doing. .I advise you to leave or I will meet you here soon.”
Restrepo said the perpetrators were children and teenagers under the age of 18 and that their families would be contacted in the coming weeks. Some may end up spending time in the juvenile justice system. Restrepo urged anyone who witnessed Taggar’s behavior to come forward and report it.
