ATLANTA — An Atlanta City Council meeting spanned more than 24 hours, with most of the time spent listening to public. The majority of the comments focused on police reform, which is something being considered by the council.
There were 1,251 public comments included in that portion of the meeting, which totaled nearly 18 hours. The council started listening to the remarks Monday afternoon before taking a break at 4 a.m. Tuesday - and then resumed listening at 10 a.m.
During the marathon meeting, the council considered and voted on police reform issues, and a violent Fourth of July weekend in which 31 people were shot, with five of the victims killed.
"My question is, what is the mayor and the council doing about all the violence we've seen in Atlanta over the last few weeks? Because, you know, what currently being done is obviously not enough," one person said.
"And I hope that professionals with the expertise in policing will become involved so that the public can better understand the unintended consequences of changes to the use of force rules," the person said.
Many of the comments focused on the issue of what callers referred to as "The Rayshard Brooks Bill." It's a proposal to reallocate $73 million from the Atlanta Police budget to other community-based initiatives.
"Vote yes on the Rayshard Brooks bill," one person said.
"Under no circumstances do we want the city council to remove or move funds from police," another person said.
The idea failed to pass last month, but Councilmember Antonio Brown said he is reintroducing the item and it could be up for a vote in two weeks.
During the meeting, council approved legislation for the "8 Can't Wait" platform. The list of measures bans chokeholds, requires de-escalation strategies and a warning before shooting. It also requires exhausting all alternatives before shooting, says other officers have a duty to intervene and bans shooting at moving vehicles. Other measures include requiring the use of force continuum and comprehensive reporting.
Some of the other items approved during the meeting was an ordinance to make Juneteenth a city paid holiday. There was also a resolution approved to create an process for engagement with the community to select a street for a permanent "Black Lives Matter" mural.
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