APD Chief: Officers need to do better understanding constituents

Atlanta Interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant acknowledged Thursday many minority citizens are afraid of the police, which he attributed to “historical and systemic problems” that exist in APD and departments across the nation.

Bryant was among the panelists at a youth forum sponsored by the Police Athletic League. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was also scheduled to attend but technical problems kept her from participating.

The interim chief, who came out of retirement to replace Erika Shields after she resigned in June, was peppered with questions by three young students chosen by PAL. He said officers need to do a better job understanding the communities they serve.

“When you have that history of not always making the right decision with certain aspects of our community, that resonates through generations,” Bryant said. “When you couple that with officers still acting inappropriate in many of the communities they serve ... it brings an aspect of fear.”

“Officers have to work harder to ressaure the people they serve they are not there to frighten or harm them,” he said.

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Asked earlier about inadequacies in training, Bryant said, “That would be the greatest flaw, that we don’t often mesh with the community that we serve.”

Bryant inherited a number of challenges when he took over. Morale plummeted after Officer Garrett Rolfe was fired, without an investigation, for shooting Rayshard Brooks at a downtown Wendy’s. After Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard charged Rolfe with felony murder, among other crimes, hundreds of officers staged an unofficial “blue flu” in protest.