About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2015)
The Champion, Thursday, April 2 - 8, 2015 OPINION Page 5A Anthony Hill did not have to die Anthony Hill did not have to die. He was the naked, un armed, bipolar man killed by a DeKalb County Police officer March 9. The of ficer was responding to a call about a man acting “deranged,” knocking on apartment doors and crawl ing on the ground, according to DeKalb’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Public Safety Cedric Alexander. Alexander is now re quiring more mental health training for officers. He’s re quiring officers to complete 40 hours of crisis interven- Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com Managing Editor @AndrewChampNews tion training so they can rec ognize behavioral problems caused by mental illness or substance abuse. This training is needed in DeKalb and around the nation as police officers are usually the first responders for those with a mental ill ness. As first responders, police officers need to know that the mentally ill are not primarily criminals and do not need to be in jail. They need the help that psychia trists and doctors offer, not the orders of a jailer. Part of that training for DeKalb’s police officers also should include an in troduction to the county’s mobile crisis unit. This unit, made up of a registered nurse and a police officer, responds every day to men tal illness and substance abuse calls. The unit works from 1 to 9 p.m. and covers the entire county. The call about Anthony Hill came in shortly after 1 p.m. In addition to increas ing the training for police, Alexander and interim CEO Lee May and the DeKalb Community Service Board should work together to come up with a plan to fund a round-the-clock mobile crisis unit. If the mobile crisis unit had been able to respond to the Anthony Hill call, perhaps he would be alive today and getting the help he needed. Instead Hill was shot to death by an officer whose training and experi ence led him to believe that a fellow human being who needed help and a little bit of attention was instead a danger to society. Hopefully the next time, with additional training and an expanded mobile crisis unit, will be different and there will be no more An thony Hills, because Antho ny Hill did not have to die. - ONE MAN'S OPINION = Cities from Heaven? “Happiness is having a large, loving, close-knit fam ily—living in another city,” comedian George Burns. It is, of course, under standable that rats will depart a sinking ship, and memories are still clear of the cads who took valuable spots away in the lifeboats from many women and chil dren who did not survive the sinking Titanic, along with the “Unsinkable Molly Brown.” This scourge of new cities popping up like a never-ending game of wack- a-mole is a sensible way (for some) to build fences in stead of bridges and protect what they already have. For instruction on how this may all turn out, I’d suggest viewing current episodes of The Walking Dead, where an industrious group of trans plants have built a steel- fenced compound around Alexandria, Va., to keep the “rougher elements” out. And in case you also happen to read ahead in those comic books, this doesn’t end well. Currently residing in Scottdale, in part of what has long been known as unincorporated DeKalb County, I am hoping, though doubtful, that we m Bill Crane bill.csicrane@gmail.com Columnist will be able to stay that way. In the past year, no less than four cities have proposed swallowing our modest for mer mill town to enlarge one municipality, and to anchor what’s left of unin corporated East DeKalb, in cluding jewels such as Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market, to enrich the tax coffers of one or more of these shiny new municipalities. The rush to create each, as well as potential power and land grabs by the cit ies of Atlanta, Decatur and Avondale Estates in de scending order of gall, are also mind-numbing. Before the ink is dry and maps have been published or distribut ed to potential new residents and business taxpayers, the mouse on a computer moves or blurs those lines again. DeKalb’s newest city is Brookhaven. Though I op posed its creation at the time, I will acknowledge that they are getting many things right. Their mayor and council, more often than not, relate and govern in a civilized fashion, and when they disagree, they do so without being childlike or disagreeable. Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis recently proudly reported that in just over two years of existence, Brookhaven has cash re serves of nearly $4 million. Commendable, without doubt, but Brookhaven leaders also recently com municated about produc tive meetings with Georgia’s congressional delegation, seeking support and public funds to assess/address the needs of a local dam on the potential verge of failure, and additional federal fund ing to establish a park/trails system along Peachtree Creek. Worthwhile projects for local government fund ing, but certainly not ris ing to the level of needing/ requiring federal taxpayer support. Where is the fiscal conservancy so championed by the founders of this same city? Also problematic in this rush to build new cities, in addition to demographic and income divisions being further deepened, is the lack of planning on a regional basis, or the acknowledg ment of overlap in the cost structures created by mul tiple police departments, convention and visitors’ bu reaus and numerous other ancillary local government entities. Long witnessing oth ers wishing for the greener grass of another home or destination, only to find that they were likely better off standing firmly planted on that prior terra firma, I can’t help but believe that while so many are screaming in the weeds now, they will be far from blissful later stand ing in a much more expen sive but better landscaped lawn. To get back on track, some individuals who have sat all this out are going to have to get involved, and our major employers and historic community giants, such as Emory University, DeKalb Medical and Geor gia Power among others, should be looked at to play leadership roles, as opposed to claiming neutrality or playing puppet master from the shadows. I like to view myself as a realist. I can easily re member when I moved back to Decatur in 1989, and how many were de claring its school system dead and its downtown ir reparably damaged by the arrival and construction of a MARTA hub station. Just look at downtown Decatur now, but it didn’t get there overnight, nor without de cades of sweat equity. And it takes that kind of work to turn troubled communities around. Are you in, or are you ain’t? If the latter, there will be no shortage of express buses to the new cities, and even places like Alexandria, Va.; see again the latest epi sode of The Walking Dead. Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Champion, Cham pion Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native and business owner, living in Scottdcde. You can reach him or comment on a column at bill.csicrane@ gmail.com.
