ATLANTA — This weekend’s violence was a central concern during an Atlanta City Council meeting Monday afternoon. City leaders talking about what immediate action they can take to reverse the crime trends.
Council adopted a resolution to create a public safety commission that will provide a collaborative structure to discuss reforms.
The commission will be made up of different leaders in the city, from law enforcement members to members of the judicial system, and people in the community.
Recognizing that the spike in crime is happening across most jurisdictions, regardless of city and county lines, the council hopes to add similar counterparts from DeKalb County to mirror Fulton County’s appointees on the commission.
“If we’re looking at the collaboration or the collaborative effort, to leave out DeKalb is a huge omission,” said Councilwoman Natalyn Mosby Archibong.
Another measure would use money from the city’s general fund to create a “Recapture Program”, which will recruit retired police officers to specifically patrol city parks and recreation areas.
“The hope is that officers hired for this purpose will only be working in this purpose, in this area with the parks,” said Councilman Michael Julian Bond.
The efforts Monday are added on top of what Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms previously said she’s doing by adding pay incentives to keep officers and building a new training facility for police.