DORAVILLE, Ga. -- Continued fears in the immigrant community are now forcing Doraville Police to assure local parents not to be afraid to take their children to the school bus stop.
The department went as far as even calling a meeting with parents to address the concerns.
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According to Police Chief John King, the fear about ICE operations was starting to affect local crime fighting efforts, and the meeting was much-needed to calm those fears.
“We started seeing the 911 calls drop significantly," King told 11Alive's Faith Abubey. "When I talked to other chiefs of police, in the Bufford Highway Corridor, they started noticing the same drop in calls, and people not reporting crime.”
King has no hard data on how much crime reporting has dropped, but his department believes the drop in crime reporting is a direct result of the ongoing immigration debate.
“They are reading some publications which tells them every time there's a police activity, blue lights, it's potentially an ICE raid. So, they are reacting accordingly,” King said. “A lot of parents are even afraid to go to the school bus stop to pick up their children.”
King and his department called a meeting with residents at two Doraville apartment complexes off Winter Park Drive Saturday.
The department reports about 50 immigrant families were in attendance.
“We had a conversation for about two hours about what is real, what is not real, what are changes, if any,” King said.
Doraville Police explained they have no jurisdiction to arrest illegal immigrants and assured the families that reporting crime won't land them in the hands of immigration officers.
“Our priorities are very different,” King added.
While it might take more than one meeting to erase the fears, King says his officers have received good feedback so far.
“It's a good sign when they want you to take a picture with their children, and its part of our engagement,” King explained. “I think they left thinking, 'Hey, there's somebody there that can understand what I'm saying, can understand my fears and is willing to listen and have a straight talk.'”
Doraville Police plans to host more of these meeting in the coming weeks.
They have also reached out to the DeKalb County School District to schedule one of the community meetings at the school.
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