About Atlanta Intown. (Sandy Springs, GA) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2017)
The Neighborhood News & Features Crime Plan New APD chief outlines vision for public safety By Collin Kelley N ew Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields has outlined her public safety plan for the city. Shields said during her first press conference in January and in a follow up interview with Atlanta INtown that she had been working with colleagues reviewing critical needs for the city and acknowledged that while crime is down, APD can do better. “There has been a 27 percent reduction in crime under Mayor Reed,” Shields said, “but when people believe their safety is an issue, data is useless. I think people are tired of hearing data.” The chief said reduction of violent crime is the department’s number one priority. Shields said APD would be contacting property owners and managers at a handful of apartment complexes that have some of the most violent crime in the city. She also said the department would be focusing on repeat offenders “who have no ambition in life except to victimize others.” Shields said repeat offenders are causing most of the crime, and many have 25 to 50 arrests, but gaps in the criminal justice system allow them back on the streets. “We are going to rein in the relatively small number of repeat offenders doing most of the crime,” she promised. “We have to get everyone on the same page — police, prosecutors, judges — and acknowledge that these gaps in the system exist,” Shields said. “There has to be a change in how criminals are sentenced and how bonds are issued. It could be changed right now, but they’ve gotten into the practice of doing things in a certain way. It perpetuates the cycle of criminal behavior and the offenders know there aren’t any consequences.” Another high priority will be working to curb juvenile crime. “The juvenile justice system is not working,” Shields said, noting that five juveniles in the city have more than 100 arrests between them at such early ages. Shields said young, black males are growing up with nothing in their lives, including absent or disinterested parents, no structure, education and often hungry for food. That leads to joining gangs and engaging in criminal behavior. “APD has no desire to lock up young, black men. Too many young, black men have been locked up for no reason, but there has to be a middle ground between locking them up and sending them back to nothing. These kids matter to us.” She said APD would be working with partners to develop programs to reach out to the top 100 juvenile offenders and steer them away from criminality. 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Speaking about recent armed robberies on the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail, Shield said there is “very little crime there, but when something happens it garners an enormous amount of attention.” But the chief is sensitive to the city’s popular amenity and said upgrading lighting, adding more cameras and better signage so users know where they are on the trail are on the way. She said officers’ hours have been shifted so they are patrolling At | anta p 0 |j ce Chief Erika Shields the BeltLine later, especially when people are leaving bars and restaurants along the trail. Shields said improving APD’s technology, recruitment and retention of police officers and a new four-year pay plan were also on her vision list for the future. [d City launches transportation plan update initiative The Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development has launched an initiative to update the city’s existing Comprehensive Transportation Plan. The initiative will also serve as a critical element of the Atlanta City Design Project, which envisions what Atlanta should look like decades from now, as well as guide future decisions on the growth and development. “As our city continues to experience unprecedented growth, the City of Atlanta is committed to ensuring connectivity and mobility for residents and visitors,” Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “The new transportation plan is an essential part of making Atlanta an even more competitive city in the region, and will also create a greater quality of life for our pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. We invite all residents to help shape Atlanta’s transportation future.” The transportation planning process seeks to be open and transparent and will include extensive community engagement. The engagement process will consist of community meetings, social media polling and pop-up events throughout the city. The Department of Planning and Community Development also created a Stakeholder Advisory Committee and is seeking local community members dedicated to advancing Atlanta as a national model for transportation. The $300 million TSPLOST and $2.6 billion MARTA expansion plans will help leverage the work already being completed under the $250 million Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond program. As part of the program, the City of Atlanta began synchronizing traffic signals, adding new bike lanes, repaving roads, repairing bridges and establishing public- private partnerships to enhance the local transportation system starting in 2015. For more information and to get involved, visit atlantastransportationplan. com. [d 6 MARCH 2017 | [d AtlantalNtownPaper.com
