Last August, former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms unveiled a new use-of-force dashboard for the city’s police department.
The website, which was a recommendation from an advisory group in the wake of the 2020 social justice protests, allows residents to see trends over time, the demographics of officers or individuals involved in use-of-force incidents, the type of force used and the outcome of any internal investigations.
But the dashboard hasn’t been updated to reflect recent use-of-force incidents since last fall.
Our colleagues Adrienne Murchison and Jillian Price made the discovery while reporting on the increase in fatalities involving police officers and civilians in the two years since George Floyd’s death. The article also mentions another discrepancy in the dashboard: In 2021, APD had been involved in three fatal shootings by August, but the dashboard indicates an APD officer had used a gun only once.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
We brought it up to Mayor Andre Dickens’ office, and a spokesman said the data for late 2021 and early 2022 will be processed and uploaded.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” the spokesman said. “It appears as though a staffing reassignment caused a delay in the transmission of data from APD to (the Atlanta Information Management department). This has been addressed and we anticipate more timely quarterly updates going forward.”
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The mayor’s office is notching a win after Atlanta voters overwhelmingly approved a $750 million infrastructure package during last Tuesday’s primary election. The continuation of the T-SPLOST tax passed with 69% of the vote, and two bond referendums were approved with more than 80% voting yes, according to unofficial results.
In a letter to city employees last Wednesday, Dickens called the outcome a major victory.
“These investments will touch every neighborhood in Atlanta. The voters have demonstrated their trust in the city to carry out these projects, and now it is up to us to deliver,” the mayor wrote.
Credit: robert.andres@ajc.com
Credit: robert.andres@ajc.com
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Council corner: There’s no meeting scheduled for this week, which may come as a relief to officials and staff, given that two members tested positive for COVID-19 last week. No word yet on whether next Monday’s full council meeting will continue in-person as planned, or if additional precautions will be put in place.
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Work continues citywide to install 10,000 new energy-efficient LED streetlights after former Mayor Bottoms initiated that task in June. So far, nearly 3,000 streetlights have been installed, repaired or upgraded as part of the “Light Up the Night” project formed between Georgia Power and the city.
The City Council recently approved the sale of all city-owned streetlights to Georgia Power for future maintenance and repair. Georgia Power is currently repairing inoperable lights before upgrading all lights to LED technology over the next 18 months, the city said.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
The Atlanta Housing Authority is planning to work with developers Tishman Speyer and H. J. Russell & Company to build a mixed-use community on the site of the city’s massive, aging civic center. Trish O’Connell, Atlanta Housing’s deputy chief real estate officer, said the companies submitted a joint proposal that includes a large retail space and 1,300 housing units.
An Atlanta Housing spokesman said the agency wants to offer more than 400 of those units at or below 100% of the Atlanta metro area’s median income, which is $86,200 for a family of four, according to the city.
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Mayor Dickens is pushing for Atlanta’s public, private and nonprofit companies and agencies to employ 3,000 young people this summer.
So far, these are some of the employers that have pledged to hire teenagers as part of the Summer Youth Employment Program: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta Public Schools, the Georgia Aquarium, Coca-Cola, the Fox Theatre, MARTA, NCR, Accenture, AT&T and IKEA.
Dickens said in a statement that those companies are offering a combined 600 jobs.
“This is only the beginning,” Dickens said. “We need more employers to join the challenge and employ 3,000 of Atlanta’s youth now and throughout the summer.”
