Every homebuyer wants to buy a home in a place where they will feel safe. As REALTORS®, these are questions we receive frequently:
- Is this a safe area?
- Can you only show me homes in neighborhoods that are safe?
- How can I check crime statistics for the area?
- Where are the safe neighborhoods?
Of course, there is no singular resource to assess a specific property's safety and every homebuyer will have different criteria for what makes a home or area feel "safe." However, the resources below may be handy to homebuyers who are looking to perform additional due diligence and research while considering properties to purchase.
Two national databases can be very useful in researching the areas surrounding a home or neighborhood that a buyer is considering:
- Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Sex Offender Registry. This database allows users to enter a street address and a distance (in miles) to view a list of nearby registered sex offenders. From the site: "The Georgia Bureau of Investigation makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in the Georgia Sex Offender Registry is accurate. As the information is provided by other agencies and entities and is continuously changing, the GBI makes no promise or any express or implied guarantee concerning the accuracy of this information."
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Drug Lab Map. The DEA's Drug Lab Map provides a search filter by state, and then results are filtered alphabetically by county, providing addresses of known drug labs. From the site: "This list contains addresses of some locations where law enforcement agencies reportedly found chemicals or other items, indicating the presence of either clandestine drug laboratories or dumpsites."
Several counties (and the City of Atlanta) provide crime data and statistics that make this kind of due diligence easier for homebuyers to dig a little deeper in their research into their area and neighborhood.
CITY OF ATLANTA
The City of Atlanta publishes weekly crime reports which can be downloaded from their website (location data is not provided).
COBB COUNTY
The Cobb County Department of Public Safety provides a crime mapping service that helps residents to see/track crime statistics; you can enter your property address and a date range (within the last 365 days) and it will bring up a list of crimes reported around your property, as well as an interactive map.
DEKALB COUNTY
The Dekalb Police Department provides a service called CRIMETRAC that helps residents to see/track crime statistics; you can enter your property address and date range (within the last 6 months) and then move the map around to see crimes reported around your property.
FORSYTH COUNTY
The Forsyth County Police Department provides a service for crime mapping that helps residents to see/track crime statistics; you can enter your property address plus a target search range (in feet or miles), as well as a date range, and then see a list of incidents that fit those criteria.
FULTON COUNTY
The Fulton County Police Department provided Open Performance Reports on their website, with information and year-over-year statistics ; however, the reports end in 2019 and we have not been able to locate updated data on the Fulton County Police Department site at this time. Some very general 2020 information can also be viewed here.
GWINNETT COUNTY
The Gwinnett Police Department provides a service called CRIMETRAC that helps residents to see/track crime statistics; you can enter your property address and then move the map around to see crimes reported around your property.
PAULDING COUNTY
The Paulding County Police Department publishes crime statistics from 2015 through 2020; you can view them on their website (location data is not provided).
If you have questions about buying a home or want more information how to start the homebuying process, give us a call today at 404-994-2181 or email Maura(at)BuySellLiveAtlanta(dot)com!
