Fulton County Police Chief Gary Stiles told protesters at a meeting Friday that he respected the way they acted during marches throughout the past week.
Their commitment to nonviolence, he said, meant he did not hesitate when Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves asked him to participate in the first of several planned meetings that they hope will lead to better policing and more community trust.
Stiles and Eaves met with representatives of the NAACP, Rise Up GA and other groups Wednesday. After the meeting, Eaves said he hopes by August to come up with a draft of some initiatives the county could spearhead to improve responses to mental health calls and other issues. Later, he plans to expand the conversation to all the county’s police forces.
Asia Parks, a member of Rise Up GA who spent the weekend at the protests, said she was glad that Eaves had reached out to her group to start the conversation. She was pleased to hear that Fulton is working toward outfitting officers with body cameras and is considering crisis intervention units. Gerald Griggs, vice president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, said he believes the meetings will help lead to fair and equitable policing.
“I think we’re going to see big things by the end of summer,” he said. “If Georgia could take the lead, it could be the birth of a new movement.”
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