ATLANTA — The Atlanta Police Department is asking for a multimillion-dollar bump in its budget.
APD wants $247 million dollars to be included in next year's budget to focus on hiring, expanding their camera system and creating specialty units to improve response times.
APD Chief Darin Scheirbaum says his priority remains fully staffing the department to reach its full authorized strength of just over 2,000 employees by 2026. That's when the city hosts the World Cup and he wants to be prepared.
“We thank the mayor for laying the groundwork for that and these council members that have approved this opportunity to help us build back our force," Scheirbaum said Thursday.
The proposal originally was supposed to be presented on the day a man opened fire in Midtown Atlanta. He fired shots inside a waiting room at a medical building on May 3. Five women were shot, one of them died.
“As you all well know, two weeks ago when we were looking for the midtown shooter – it was the cameras that allowed us to quickly identify who the shooter was, where they had went, and to be able work with our neighboring jurisdictions," Scheirbaum said.
He added that a stronger police force could be better prepared for urgent situations.
Also included in the proposal is the creation of two new units. APD plans to create a civilian traffic unit that would be solely dedicated to traffic incidents with officers stationed along busy roadways similar to HERO units to create quicker response times.
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The other unit would be a team of mental health professionals that respond exclusively to mental health calls.
“Their skillset, their passion, and their expertise of what they do is to mitigate a mental health emergency, help with de-escalation, and to ensure we take that individual to an appropriate care facility," Schierbaum explained.
Last year, the council approved $235 million to be allocated to the department. The chief says the almost $12 million increase would allow for the agency to remain competitive in attracting quality officers.