MLPA Newsletter - Winter, 2002

Selected articles from the newsletter, click here to see the whole newsletter in PDF

Morningside's Man in Blue: Deputy Chief Wesley Derrick
by Susan Drake

As attendees of Morningside/Lenox Park Association (MLPA) and Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) F meetings can readily vouch, a frequent presence at those gatherings is our very own man in blue. Silver of hair and impressive of demeanor, Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Wesley F. Derrick keeps in close touch with our neighborhood and our concerns because they are his neighborhood and his concerns too.

A Georgia native, Deputy Chief Derrick grew up in Atlanta, frequently visiting his grandmother on Rock Springs Road in Morningside and graduating from Grady High School. After majoring in Education at the University of Georgia, he joined the Atlanta Police Department (APD) in 1971. In 1995 he was appointed Deputy Chief and in 1999 took up command of the Field Operations Division.

As the APD web site explains: "Deputy Chief Derrick manages the division of the police department responsible for all Atlanta Police officers who deliver direct service to our communities. Most of the uniformed officers of our department work in the Field Operations Division." (For more information about the APD and its 2300 employees, click www.atlantapd.org.).

Deputy Chief Derrick elaborates, "The officers in my division are the first responders, the ones in marked cars who answer 911 calls." Many of the officers who staff our Morningside Security Patrol serve in this division; others come from the Detective Division.

In his thirty-year career Deputy Chief Derrick has earned many awards, among them the APD Meritorious Award for Bravery, the Midtown Neighborhood Award for Leadership, and, most recently, the APD Manager of the Year. The award that means the most to him? "The Award for Leadership given by the Midtown Neighborhood because it involved a neighborhood."

Wesley Derrick returned to Morningside in 2000. In addition to frequenting MLPA and NPU meetings, he serves on the boards of the Downtown YMCA and the Academy Theatre. In his few hours of leisure, he hunts and fishes. "I chose to live in Morningside because I thought it was one of the best neighborhoods in the city," Chief Derrick states. "And the Morningside Security Patrol is the perfect enhancement to the neighborhood, the perfect partnership between the APD and the neighborhood."

A Night in the Life of Beat 210
by Van Hall

On December 21, 2001, Van Hall, co-editor of MLPA News, rode with an Atlanta Police Department patrol officer on Beat 210 of APD’s Zone 2 during the evening watch (3 PM to 11 PM). Beat 210 includes the Morningside-Lenox Park neighborhood. He was accompanied by Officer Dimas Vega, a native of El Paso, Texas, and a five-year veteran of the APD. Officer Vega is bilingual, (English & Spanish), with Panamanian and American Indian parentage. He is barrel- chested, no-nonsense, and short spoken, precisely the sort of person you want on your side in a dispute.

The following is a minute-byminute chronology of Officer Vega’s 8- hour shift. The weather on the evening of the 21st was clear; pre-holiday traffic was extremely heavy. Remarks in quotation marks are those of Officer Vega.

3:05 PM. Roll Call at the Zone 2 precinct, located at the rear of Lindbergh Plaza.

3:21 PM. Dispatch call to check out an alarm at an apparel store. Call is diverted to another patrol car in the area.

"I like to get to know the store owners, especially those that stay open late and are more vulnerable."

3:55 PM. Dispatch call to the intersection of Lenox and Buford Highway for a stalled car with the driver slumped over the wheel. Upon arriving at the scene, Vega cannot find the car. Dispatch says the car is located further up Lenox Road, nearer Lenox Square, outside Vega’s beat. Another patrol car on the scene is dispatched to locate the car.

4:01 PM. Dispatch call for a hit-and-run accident at LaVista and Cheshire Bridge. Vega arrives at the scene at 4:20 PM, after cruising through the parking lot twice before locating the vehicle. The driver of a tan truck was hit by an older VW. The hit-and-run driver was on a cell phone.

"Seventy percent of my time is taken up with traffic incidents, up to 90% when it rains."

4:55 PM. Dispatch call to an alarm at an apartment complex on Lindbergh. Arrives at apartment at 5:10 PM. Alarm has been turned off, no sign of entry.

5:11 PM. Dispatch call to the Waffle House at Lindbergh Plaza. A customer is loitering in the restaurant and refuses to leave. Arrives at the scene 5:17 PM. Loiterer has left. Vega searches for him in the parking lot, but without success.

5:25 PM. Dispatch call to another hit-and-run, this time on I-85 northbound. Because of the peculiar layout of the expressway system, Vega has to drive all the way to Northside Drive on I-75 and turn around to get on I-85 northbound.

5:42 PM. Stops on I-75 northbound to issue a warning to the passenger of a car stopped in the emergency lane who appears to be urinating on the pavement.

5:50 PM. Reaches the accident site. The accident involves four cars, including the hit-and-run driver. Vega writes up the accident in the emergency lane while northbound traffic speeds by at 60-70 mph. Completes the accident reports by 6:20 PM.

"The interstate is a scary place to work. I try not to think about the speed of the traffic while I’m working on the expressway. After everything else I’ve done, I’d be really angry if I got killed working an accident on I-85."

6:25 PM. Rousts a panhandler on the exit ramp of I-85.

6:34 PM. Arrives back at the precinct to work on reports. Completes paperwork at 7:09 PM.

7:11 PM. Dispatch call to Eckerd’s in Ansley Square where a nearby resident used a payphone to report a dispute with his landlord. Vega arrives at 7:22 PM. The resident, who lives further south on Piedmont, is intoxicated and claims that his landlord assaulted him with a flashlight. Since the resident lives outside Zone 2, Vega calls dispatch to have a Zone 5 patrol car meet him at the resident’s boarding house. Once at the boarding house, Vega receives a dispatch for back-up to investigate a break-in at Morningside School.

7:35 PM. Vega meets Officer Chad Armstrong at Morningside School. The door to the school has been propped up with a dust mat, setting off the alarm. Both officers enter with 9mm pistols drawn, pointing down. At 7:47 PM they are joined by an Atlanta school detective (one of two on duty for the entire Atlanta school system). The three clear the building by 7:55 PM. There is no sign of disturbance.

8:01 PM. Dispatch call to Ansley Forest for a domestic disturbance. Arrives on the scene at 8:05 PM. The call was placed by an ex-boyfriend who says that his former lover refused to return his personal belongings. The caller had left by the time Vega arrived. Vega makes sure that the resident does not feel threatened by the ex-boyfriend.

8:10 PM. Vega leaves Ansley Forest and cruises through Ansley Mall.

"Maybe if we cruise real slow through here we can prevent something."

8:28 PM. Vega heads north on Piedmont to Cheshire Bridge and stops at the El Molino grocery store at the corner of Faulkner Drive. The owners were robbed two nights ago of $1,100. Now they keep the door locked at night and open it only to customers they know. Vega speaks briefly with the owner in Spanish and ascertains everything is OK.

8:32 PM. Dispatch call to a Chevron station at Lindbergh Plaza about a loiterer who refuses to leave the store. Arrives at the store at 8: 38 PM. The loiterer has left.

8:44PM. Vega cruises through the Morosgo Apartments.

8:49 PM. Dispatch call to Sherwood Road in Morningside to check out a blue and white truck reportedly casing the neighborhood. Arrives in the neighborhood at 9:05 PM. No sign of a blue and white truck.

9:06 PM. Dispatch call to Chevron Station at Lindbergh Plaza for second time to check out a loiterer.

9:07 PM. Dispatch call to check out an alarm at a residence on E. Rock Spring. Because the house has no visible street number, it takes Vega several passes to locate it. The alarm is off, no sign of entry. Vega leaves for Lindbergh Plaza at 9:14 PM.

9:15 PM. Dispatch call to investigate a fire in the parking lot behind Rhodes Bakery. “It looks like somebody is trying to keep himself warm,” says the caller. Arrives at the bakery at 9:17 PM, no sign of a fire or of anyone trying to warm themselves.

9:22 PM. Arrives at Lindbergh Plaza to check out loiterer. Loiterer has left. Vega cruises the Plaza parking lot.

9:25 PM. Dispatch call to McDonald’s to check out the “Lindbergh Loiterer.” Arrives at 9:31 PM. Loiterer is sitting at a table, intoxicated. Vega escorts him out of McDonald’s, warns him that if he gets another call, he will lock him up. The loiterer asks Vega for a handout. Vega advises him to leave the area.

"I’ll probably get another call about him tonight. I’ve got no reason to lock him up. He’s broken no laws except maybe being down on his luck."

9:36 PM. Dispatch call to El Molino’s to check out an alarm. En route, Vega comes up behind a GMC sports utility vehicle at a light on Cheshire Bridge. A woman on the passenger side comes back to Vega and complains about the slowness of the traffic light. Vega assures her it is operating properly. He then calls in to dispatch for an ID on the GMC’s Texas tag.  "Texas plates don’t have an expiration month and year on the tag, so you never know." The tag checks out OK.

When the GMC pulls out of the light, Vega notices that the driver keeps looking in his rear view mirror. The driver turns into Faulkner Drive just as Vega does the same to check out El Molino’s. There is no alarm at the store, and the door is secure. Vega pulls the patrol car up to the parking lot’s entrance on to Faulkner and turns off his lights, waiting for the GMC to return. As it comes up Faulkner, the driver sees the patrol car and turns into another parking lot. After some moments the GMC exits the parking lot and proceeds to the light at Cheshire Bridge. Vega pulls up behind him and turns on his blue light. The GMC pulls into the Heretic bar parking lot.

Vega gets out of his car, approaches the parked GMC with his hand on his service pistol, and talks briefly with the driver. He returns to the patrol car with the driver’s license and insurance documents. He calls dispatch for an ID on the driver. A moment later dispatch advises that the driver has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Smyrna. Vega returns to the GMC, asks the driver to step outside the car, frisks him and handcuffs him. While he’s doing this, the passenger tries to leave the car. He orders her back in the car. When he finishes handcuffing the driver, he puts him in the patrol car and tells the passenger in the GMC to go home to wait for a call from Fulton County Jail. He leaves the scene at 10:00 PM for the precinct to book the driver.

10:10 PM. Arrives at the precinct. The prisoner is wanted for failure to appear on a charge of running a red light in Smyrna. Also, he is driving with suspended Georgia and Texas driving licenses.

10:15 PM. Vega leaves the precinct to deliver the prisoner to Fulton County Jail. He arrives at the jail at 10:35 PM. As the patrol car approaches the 10-story jail through 12-ft high razor-wire fencing, the prisoner asks Vega, "What is this place exactly? Is this a prison? My god, I can’t stay here. I disputed the red light ticket." Vega assures him he’ll have plenty of time to talk to the authorities in Smyrna about the ticket. He takes the prisoner inside and leaves the jail at 10:44 PM.

10:45 PM. As Vega is leaving the jail premises he receives a dispatch call to investigate an armed robbery at the Bolton Apartments. An 18-year-old Hispanic male was robbed of $70 at gunpoint on his way home. Vega arrives on the scene at 10:50 PM. He is soon joined by an officer from Zone 2, Morning Watch (11 PM to 7 AM). Vega translates for the victim.

"Friday nights are bad for Hispanics. They’re usually paid their week’s wages in cash on Fridays, and the bad guys know that. He’s lucky he didn’t get killed. The bad guys are cold-blooded. If they don’t get enough money, they’d just as soon kill you. They’re mean."

11:05 PM. Leaves the scene to return to the precinct.

11:15 PM. He stops a car on I-75 southbound going 85 MPH in the HOV lane. He lets the driver off with a warning.

"I didn’t give him a ticket. He’s only 19 and he’d get hammered on points. Besides, he won’t do it again. His mother was asleep in the back seat. I woke her up."

11:25 PM. Vega arrives back at the precinct for the end of his 3:00 to 11:00 PM shift. He has not yet eaten dinner. Total miles driven: 79. Total dispatch calls answered: 16. Average response time: 10.2 minutes. Total number of face-to-face interactions with civilians: 22. Number of warnings issued: 4. Number of arrests: 1.

"What was the most important thing I did tonight? Translating for that Hispanic kid. He was scared and needed help. Contrary to what some people think, police like to help people."