Another View: It’s about time city officials take action

By Kyle Keyser

Last week, city hall woke up.

I’ll be honest: I was a little skeptical. When I walked into Mayor Shirley Franklin and Chief Richard Pennington’s press conference, I figured they would respond to the weekend’s crime spree in typical fashion: tout dropping crime rates and tell us it’s all in our heads. When the mayor started announcing some specific solutions instead, I started to listen up.

She said: Atlanta is getting more police officers and, specifically, more foot patrols. The city will start focusing on gangs — upping the Gang Task Force to 25 officers — and will do “sweeps” in areas of gang activity. They will also start enforcing the 11 p.m. curfew for city youth. Pennington admitted that criminals do not fear the APD. These measures are, in part, to send the signal: “We’re here and we’re watching you.”

The merit and efficacy of these measures will be for us to decide together, as they work alongside the efforts we’ve been taking in our own communities. We’ll either see the added benefits on our streets or we won’t.

Today, I’m at least grateful city hall is doing something. The mayor has adopted what I’ve been saying at Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC) rallies since January: One victim of one crime is one too many.

These efforts are just the beginning. They require all of us — our elected officials included — to remain vigilant. Reducing violence, making our neighborhoods safer, and addressing crime at its root is where we need to go from here.

We need strong, insightful and pragmatic visionaries to set everything in motion. We need a comprehensive plan that tackles these issues at their most fundamental levels: issues like recreation centers, social services, and education; others like responsible government, fiscal responsibility, and the allocation of funds. All of these will effectuate a positive change in Atlanta. It’s long overdue.

To city hall I say, “Good morning!” Yes, they’ve woken up but they’ve been asleep too long. When I’m stirred awake by the sirens of six cop cars chasing down eight masked perpetrators in my driveway — as I was this past weekend — sleep isn’t an option.

It shouldn’t be for my city leadership either.

To get more involved, please visit www.atlantanstogether.org.

Kyle Keyser is founder of Atlantans Together Against Crime.