Police working to end reckless driving in DeKalb County park

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - The dangerous behavior at a DeKalb County park has some families on alert and complaining about reckless driving, loud music, and ATV racing.

Gresham Park is usually just a quiet park in South DeKalb County, but a few Sundays ago it was a totally different scene. 

"Large crowds meeting out there, ATVs are out there – one of my sergeants said he saw someone on horseback," DeKalb County Police Major D.L. Jordan said.

Jordan says he's working to stop the problems that can not and will not be tolerated, saying that he immediately enacted the unit's neighborhood enforcement team to address those issues that upset some in the area.

"It made me feel unsafe for the community," resident Mary O'Neal said at a community meeting Tuesday about the situation.

It's an issue that's happening across the metro Atlanta area.

Jordan says he's aware some groups travel between jurisdictions on Interstate 20 and he's working with the APD.

"We want to work with them because crime has no jurisdiction," he said. We are going to partner with apd and do our best to get rid of this problem."

As for Gresham Park, Jordan has a message for those who intend on using it to break the law.

"I want you to have fun at the park, but you have to put yourself in the position of other people out there," he said. "Do you want your child walking that close to a car that's speeding or an ATV that's out of control and somebody end up getting killed?"

According to Jordan, since he increased patrols at the park, his officers haven't seen those problems the last two weekends, but he wants to get ahead of the issue before summer.