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Pink flamingos an anti-crime symbol in East Atlanta
By BEN SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
There’s campaign afoot in East Atlanta to turn the pink flamingo from an icon of tackiness into a crime-fighting symbol
“You always hear about neighborhood associations coming down on ugly pink flamingos,” said Jason Hatcher. “We thought it would be a clever form of civil disobedience to show that our concerns are being ignored.”
Hatcher, an art director for a local weekly newspaper, and Johnny Castellic (a.k.a. “Johnny Hollywood”) have launched a campaign to raise public awareness of what they insist is a growing crime problem in their area.
They say that problem is being ignored by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington.
“People are practically yelling from the rooftops,” Hatcher said. “And every time we yell they parade out this revolving dog and pony to say that overall crime is down in the city of Atlanta.”
Pennington has said police data shows that while property crimes in some of Atlanta’s gentrified communities have increased, incidents of violent crime are down.
“The community groups work closely together,” said Pennington during a recent interview. “When they hear about one crime, they e-mail their neighbors and then you get a barrage of e-mails. I think they just respond to what they hear. And a lot of times, perception to them is reality.”
The pink plastic birds have shown up in front of restaurants along Flat Shoals Road and Glenwood Avenue and on the front lawns of nearby homes.
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