Public Safety
Public Safety in Buckhead
The Buckhead Coalition is committed to promoting awareness of safety issues and solutions, providing support for public safety officers, and partnering with stakeholders to encourage collaborative ideas that will yield tangible results.
The Coalition is proud to support the valiant efforts of both the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department and the Atlanta Police Department, whose unwavering commitment to public safety serves as the foundation of our community. Their service goes beyond duty: it is a testament to their resilience, professionalism, and devotion to keeping our community safe.
Atlanta Fire Rescue Department – Buckhead Overview
The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department (AFRD) is a multi-faceted, all-hazards emergency response organization comprised of five divisions of labor: Support Services Division, Field Operations Division, Emergency Medical Services Division, Technical Services Division and the Airport Fire Division. The AFRD is led by Fire Chief Roderick M. Smith.
AFRD currently serves the Buckhead community from four stations:
- Station 3 – North Buckhead
- Station 21 – Buckhead Forest
- Station 26 – Westminster (currently being rebuilt)
- Station 27 – Chastain Park
Atlanta Police Department – Zone 2 Overview
The City of Atlanta is divided into six police zones, overseen by Chief of Police, Darin Schierbaum. Zone 2, which includes the Buckhead area, is led by Major Benjamin Vayens with the support of Assistant Zone Commander Captain Dearlove.
Zone 2 includes three precincts:
- On Maple Drive, located between Peachtree Road and East Paces Ferry Road
- Inside Lenox Square Mall
- In Buckhead Village, on West Paces Ferry Road, near Peachtree, across from Whole Foods
Under the leadership of Major Vayens, and his two predecessors, Zone 2 has achieved five straight years of crime reduction since 2020.
Repeat Offender Commission
The Buckhead Coalition is a proud member of the Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission, a collaborative initiative established in 2015 by the Atlanta Police Foundation to address the disproportionate impact of repeat offenders on crime in our city. The Commission brings together key stakeholders from across the criminal justice system—including the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County courts, the FBI, and community organizations like the Buckhead Coalition—to improve coordination, transparency, and accountability.
In 2022, the Commission launched the Repeat Offender Tracking Unit (ROTU) to operationalize its strategic goals. ROTU enables real-time information sharing among city, county, state, and federal agencies, helping law enforcement and prosecutors more effectively track and prosecute individuals with multiple felony convictions.
Read the 2024 Annual Report here.
Get a State Tax Credit While Helping to Keep our Community Safer
The LESS Crime Act was signed into law in 2022 by Governor Brian Kemp. Beginning this year, individuals and corporations can allocate some of their Georgia state tax dollars that they will pay anyway to the specific cause of public safety. Funds are spent directly to support the Atlanta Police Department to aid in the retention and recruitment of officers.
CID-Funded Patrols
The Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID) funds two supplemental security patrols within its boundaries. The first employs off-duty Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers who patrol the community from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. six days a week in three police cruisers purchased by the BCID . The second is a bicycle patrol that deploys four off-duty officers who are certified as part of APD’s Bicycle Response Team (BRT) to assist on-duty patrols from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. The bicycle patrol monitors parking garages and parking lots throughout the commercial district, adding visible policing to deter crime in these areas.
Each year BCID provides $660,000 to operate these patrols, and they have contributed to a significant decline in crime within Buckhead’s commercial core over the past two years. The CID also provides $590,000 a year to fund an off-duty officer traffic control program that keeps vehicles moving through key intersections across Buckhead during high-traffic hours of the day and seasons of the year.
Clean Car Campaign
Approximately 40% of crimes in Buckhead are vehicle break-ins. Livable Buckhead raises awareness of this issue and encourages the public to help reduce vehicle break-ins through its Clean Car Campaign. The campaign reinforces three key steps to make a vehicle a less appealing target for thieves: 1. Take valuables with you, 2. Hide anything of value that you can’t take before you arrive at your destination and 3. Lock your doors.
