UPDATED: Buckhead Police Ramp Up Patrol to Combat Recent Crime Spike

UPDATED with video from Wednesday's news conference on recent crime spike in Buckhead.

Following a rash of armed robberies committed by the so-called Buckhead Bandit, a series of bank robberies, an early afternoon carjacking in a woman's Northside Drive driveway and now three kidnappings, Atlanta Police are stepping up enforcement in Buckhead's Zone 2 in more ways than one.

Zone 2 Commander, Major Van Hobbs, said the zone has increased patrols and placed more crime suppression officers in certain areas. The crime suppression unit is made up of officers who remain undercover in plain clothes.

Also, on Thursday from 6 p.m. to Friday around 2 a.m., the unit set up a safety checkpoint on Lenox Road and were able to make a handful of arrests of people driving with suspended licenses. They also arrested one suspect after finding stolen items in his vehicle. That man was charged with financial transaction card fraud and with theft by receiving stolen items.

The checkpoint was part of a three-pronged effort to mitigate Buckhead's crime spike, Hobbs told Patch.

The safety checkpoint, the first prong, allowed officers to stop traffic to hand out literature about the police department's "Clean Car Campaign."

The second prong was the increased crime suppression officers who were able to try to identify suspects during the checkpoint while "being undercover, getting information and making arrests," Hobbs said.

The final prong was the department's partnership with the Georgia State Patrol on traffic enforcement during the checkpoint.

Just 45 minutes after the safety checkpoint concluded, another man in Buckhead was kidnapped and forced to withdraw money from an ATM before he was released. His car was found nearby.

"This seems to be a little (crime) spike," Hobbs said, adding that the string of recent crimes are "out of the ordinary" for this part of Atlanta.

However, Hobbs noted that the police department apprehended the Buckhead Bandit as well as another suspect who was robbing banks in the area and are now "following very good leads" on the kidnapping cases.

"We're working as hard as we can on this," Hobbs said. There are two investigators as well as the unit supervisor working on the kidnapping cases, which may or may not have been connected.

"We're not sure at this time," Hobbs said. "We're looking at all points (in these cases). We don't want to close off any possibility on it."

Recently, a suspect who may have been involved in the kidnappings, or one of them, was arrested in South Carolina.

Currently, APD is sending an investigator to talk with the suspect and to send photos of the suspect for the victims to review.

Hobbs offered words of advice for residents. "All these crimes seem to be happening in the late afternoon or night hours, so be very vigilant of your surroundings... If you're suspicious of something, call us. Let us come out and investigate...If it doesn't feel right, call us to check up."

Do you think police in Buckhead are doing all they can to combat the area's recent crime spike? What else could be done? Tell us below in the comments.