The day after a shootout at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety training center ended with one protester dead and one Georgia State Patrol trooper in the hospital, Atlanta officials announced another initiative aimed at increasing the police presence in the city. Mayor Andre Dickens and Councilmember Amir Farokhi announced they are working to allocate $500,000 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) money to fund a community-based housing incentive for the city’s public safety officers. The funds would be administered by the Atlanta Police Foundation to provide a housing subsidy to firefighters, police officers and corrections officials to incentivize residency near their stations or zones.
“People who work in Atlanta should be able to afford to live in Atlanta,” said Dickens. “My Administration has prioritized the development of affordable housing for our workforce. This investment will help our public safety personnel live in the communities they serve. Thank you to Councilmember Farokhi for helping move this initiative forward.”
Even in a strong mayor town like Atlanta, this kind of initiative needs some legislative backing, which is where Farokhi comes in. He is sponsoring the resolution that hopes to build trust and boost the city’s recruitment and retention efforts.
“Public safety is a top priority for the Mayor and all of City Council,” said Farokhi. “We ask our police and fire to do too much with the personnel they have. We must do better at recruitment and retention. I’m excited to partner with the Mayor to launch this innovative housing program. We have been working on it for over a year and I believe it will make for safer neighborhoods and more stable public safety agencies. Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure in Atlanta. This gets us closer to realizing that goal.”
The new announcement comes amid a continuing fervor over the Public Safety Training center, which has been the site of protests for more than a year. Police and state troopers have been working to clear out camps of protesters in the woods for the last couple months and it appears things came to a head Wednesday, when a protester reportedly began shooting and police returned fire. In addition to the protester that died, at least seven more were arrested on domestic terrorism and criminal trespass charges. None of the seven were from Georgia, three were from Pennsylvania, along with one each from Maryland, Maine, Ohio and New York.
As of this writing, it does not appear the mayor or city council members have commented on what is likely an ongoing investigation. Some protesters have called for retaliation over the shooting, encouraging violence, particularly on Friday evening.
Much of the protest camp has now been cleared and dispersed but as things wind down, protesters may get more desperate. Those who stick around may be more likely to be extra committed to the cause, and possibly resorting to extreme measures.
The furor over the Public Safety Training Center is likely to be over in a few months, but things could worse in the meantime.
