Re: “Atlanta police Chief Schierbaum: You can’t arrest your way to a safe city,” AJC guest opinion essay.
Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum and Mayor Andre Dickens seem to live by the notion of never letting a good crisis go to waste.
As they push their scaled-back Tax Allocation District (TAD) extension through city council, Fulton County, and the school board, they’re framing recent violence as proof that long-term neighborhood investments are the answer.
What they’re missing is the real crisis: Our eroding confidence in their leadership to deliver safety right now.
In his guest opinion column, Chief Schierbaum largely defers to high-budget, decades-long solutions while suggesting more policing resources couldn’t make much difference against crime today.
Let me offer some concrete opportunities and tactics that don’t require waiting 30 years.
Heavily police our public spaces at all times
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Public transit stations and parks should be among the safest places in the city.
These are shared investments that reflect our values, yet they’ve become scenes of repeated violence and anti-social behavior.
We’ve seen horrific incidents at Five Points, Vine City, and Midtown MARTA stations, the 404 Day shooting and murder in Piedmont Park, and multiple attacks on the Beltline, including the recent killing.
The common thread is under-policing and a lack of visible officer presence.
Officers need to get out of their vehicles and be on paths, trails, trains and buses at all hours — especially during peak use.
To the department’s credit, we saw a temporary surge in policing after these incidents.
That level of presence needs to become permanent, which will require more resources.
Renew the focus on prosecuting repeat offenders for violent and anti-social crimes
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
As the mayor himself stated in 2022, roughly 1,000 individuals are responsible for 40% of the city’s crime.
Despite past efforts to target them, much of the recent violence traces back to repeat offenders who received lenient treatment.
It is unconscionable that the man who killed a woman on the Beltline had only served three months in prison on a six-month plea for a prior horrific random attack on a woman at a MARTA station.
More policing resources are needed to strengthen the Repeat Offender Tracking Unit, improve coordination with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, and build stronger ties with the state to secure tougher prosecutions for crimes in public spaces.
Enforce the laws against anti-social behavior
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Every day, citizens face aggressive, repeated anti-social acts from people who clearly reject any notion of shared responsibility for public safety.
In our neighborhood, a man has lived in construction sites for years, openly using hard drugs, committing petty theft and shouting violent, drug-induced threats at residents.
Most recently, on the May 19 primary Election Day, he was walking around Piedmont Park without pants, around children, in front of sworn officers. The response was simply “find your pants and move along.”
The same goes for other anti-social behavior, like blasting loud, profane music on the Beltline, which often escalates to threats of violence when citizens intervene.
These are not people in a mental health crisis who would benefit from affordable housing. These are individuals who have opted out of society and need to be policed. More police resources would help pull our city up from the bottom.
We are now 30 years and six mayors into using TADs to drive improvement in our communities. The goals are worthwhile, and Atlantans support using public funds to solve systemic problems. But we deserve real accountability on how that money is spent.
Diverting property tax increment from the general fund, public education and Fulton County services almost certainly hurts policing, schools, prosecution and jail capacity.
TADs will not solve the immediate safety and quality of life problems facing residents. More resourced policing and better tactics will.
Better prosecution and coordination with Fulton County will. Stronger relationships with the state will. It’s difficult to hear our police chief unable or unwilling to clearly articulate what he could do with additional resources today rather than deferring to solutions that won’t fully kick in for another generation.
Chris Beauregard is a Virginia Highland resident for 15 years, with his wife Jen and four children Rose, CJ, Alex, and Emme.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
