A new high-tech Atlanta Police violent crimes unit will replace the controversial Red Dog narcotics squad.
"There's going to be a blanket rule in the city," Mayor Kasim Reed said Monday. "You will not put your hands on people in this town. You will not do violence in this city and it stand."
After 60 days, the violent crime unit will take over for the discretionary Red Dog unit that began in 1987 as a ground-level anti-drug task force, and was involved in the botched Atlanta Eagle raid in 2009.
But Atlanta Police Chief George Turner denied that he was taking down the 29-member team as a response to allegations the unit used excessive force.
"This is not a result of any one incident," he said Monday. "I've discussed with my folks for the last six months about retooling the Red Dogs."
Turner said that because the nature of drug dealing in Atlanta had changed dramatically from the open-air "marketplaces" of the '80s and early '90s, and because murders had been drastically reduced, the Red Dogs would be replaced by a larger unit, which he said would be "smarter, decentralized."
Reed said the unit will be made up of high-performing officers.
"They're going to have to be fit, they;'re going to have to be of the highest ethical standard, they're going to have to use technology," he said.
Reed noted, however, that one of the priorities for the new unit would be making certain arrests met "constitutional muster."
"I think that you have to be tough on crime and smart on crime by making a difference on the streets of Atlanta," he said. "But you also have to do it with a sense of humanity and decency, and in a constitutional manner."
Last month, the Atlanta City Council agreed to pay more than $1 million to 19 patrons who sued APD on grounds that police officers violated their federal and state constitutional rights. The customers said the officers threatened them and used slurs about their sexuality.
While Turner refused to link the creation of the new unit to the Eagle settlement or any other incidents, he said one of the criteria for any members of the new team would be to have no history of using excessive force. To that effect, any current Red Dog officer can apply to join the new unit, which will roll out over the next 60 days, he said.
The unit will grow to 50 members, not including supervisors, and will focus primarily on tamping down violent crime, as well as chasing down repeat offenders, and continuing to use high-tech methods to combat an evolving drug trade.
There were mixed opinions from city council members reached Monday.
Ivory Lee Young, the chairman of the city’s public safety committee, said he trusts Turner’s judgment in disbanding the unit.
“When the unit started, you had crack/cocaine running up and down the streets,” Young said. “This is a new day and I support the decision the chief has made in how we use our resources.”
But City Council President Ceasar Mitchell was less accepting, calling the decision, “disappointing.”
“I would have hoped he would have come to the council to have a conversation about this, before he made the decision,” Mitchell said.
Reed said he supported Turner's decision and is pushing for a more technology-driven crime-fighting force, including employing video cameras around the city to collect crime data, and outfitting all squad cars with dash cameras.
"The chief's decision was an essential part of starting something new ... with more refined methods and higher use of technology," he said.
AJC reporter Larry Hartstein contributed to this story.
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