Interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said Monday that the coronavirus is hurting the department’s ability to hire new officers, because the pandemic has slowed background checks and restricted the number of new officers set to graduate from the police academy.
“The new hires is where we are actually having a problem,” Bryant told the Atlanta City Council’s Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee. “It’s not because of our level of recruitment. ... We are just not able to get the level of background information and the information needed from other businesses and individuals to get everybody through the pipeline in a timely fashion.”
The department has for years aspired to a force of 2,000 officers. It currently employs about 1,600.
“We are seeing the numbers stave off just a bit,” Bryant said. “We are not seeing the same level of attrition that we saw earlier.”
Bryant said the department lost 37 officers through retirement, resignations and dismissals in the fourth quarter of 2020, which he said is typical. But it hired only 17 new officers in that time.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has previously reported on the departmental exodus. Sixty-four officers left in July and August. Their departures corresponded to a rise in crime, and high-profile incidences in which officers faced criminal charges and firings for alleged misconduct during public protests.
Six officers were charged and two fired following the arrests and tasing of Spelman College junior Taniyah Pilgrim and Morehouse College senior Messiah Young on May 30.
On June 12, Officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Rayshard Brooks outside a Wendy’s restaurant. Brooks was fleeing from a DUI arrest. He had grabbed another officer’s Taser and fired it in the direction of police. Brooks was shot as he fled. Rolfe was fired and charged with felony murder and 10 other counts.
Both incidents, caught on video, put Atlanta police under a national spotlight, and Police Chief Erika Shields resigned after Brooks’ shooting. Shields now leads Louisville Metro Police — the department responsible for Breonna Taylor’s death.
Bryant told the committee that two classes were set to graduate from the department’s police academy soon. He did not provide a date or the number of recruits in each class. Bryant said that the department had to reduce the number of classes to prevent the spread of COVID.
Both Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and members of the city council have acknowledged low morale among police officers and a growing demand from residents and businesses to keep the city safe. There was a 62% increase in homicides and a 15% increase in aggravated assaults in 2020.
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