ATLANTA — The Atlanta mayor and police chief held a press conference on Wednesday to provide insight about the city's summer safety plans. The city leaders also addressed the aftermath of Tuesday's shooting in Downtown Atlanta and the hijacking of a Gwinnett County transit bus.
At the press conference, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum emphasized that violent crime has continued to decrease this year. According to the mayor, Atlanta saw the fourth-highest drop in violent crime in the nation in 2023. Law enforcement and city leaders said they are working to continue this trend.
This summer, the Atlanta Police Department will continue its Operation Heat Wave, a multi-agency effort focused on targeting areas with gun and drug-related crime.
Mayor Dickens acknowledged the correlation between gun violence and other issues, which his administration is working to improve. He also highlighted the importance of first responders and proper training for them to handle various situations.
"The reality is that there are still people who are going to make the wrong choice and do the wrong thing,” Dickens said.
At the press conference, one topic that received a lot of focus was APD's Community Assistance Responder (CARE) Units, six of which will hit the Atlanta streets this weekend. These units include unarmed responders meant to focus on non-emergency and non-injury calls, such as traffic incidents or missing persons. Chief Schierbaum described them as the “HERO units of our city streets.”
Another major focus of the conference was new programs and investments that are rolling out soon. APD has two new helicopters, which are equipped to assist in cases like missing individuals or something similar to the bus hijacking that occurred on Tuesday.
This year, the mayor's office said it has tripled its investment in Atlanta Victim Assistance, a nonprofit service agency that aids those who have suffered from crimes that do occur in the city.
Dickens also revealed that, due to a local increase in domestic violence homicides, the Mayor's Office of Violence Reduction will roll out a plan next week with "things that everybody can do" to curb the issue. The plan was supposed to be released this week but was delayed due to Tuesday's events.
Dickens, Schierbaum and Atlanta Fire Chief Roderick Smith also highlighted non-policing aspects of the summer safety plan, such as summer camps and employment programs for youth and fire station availability for individuals seeking help and safety.
You can watch the press conference in the videos below: