Atlanta Police pushing toward 2,000 cops (2013, renting, home)

[tonygeorgia]

Atlanta Police pushing toward 2,000 cops | www.ajc.com

For 15 years, and three Atlanta mayors, the quest for a police force with 2,000 officers has been part magical number, part mirage, part running municipal joke of political promises unmet.Reaching that goal has been like filling a bucket with holes in it. In 2008, for instance, the city poured in 120 recruits but 177 veteran cops leaked out. In 2009, 112 were poured in and 140 leaked out, retiring, heading to other forces or even changing to careers that offer better pay.

The elusive goal was originally set in 1997, when then-Mayor Bill Campbell promised 2,000 cops by the year 2000. The city has never come close - until now.This year, Mayor Kasim Reed vowed to finally obtain that goal by June 30, 2013, a timeframe that would coincide with his re-election effort. So far, the city seems to be tracking toward hitting the mark, having hired 674 recruits since he was inaugurated in January 2010, according to statistics provided by the department. The increased hiring coincides with a decrease in the attrition rate (376 since January 2010), meaning the city is plugging some of the bucket’s holes.


Where are the people that said it couldn't be done?

[tikigod311]

Lets see how many people stay. I know I am being negative, but I believe the APD has a large turnover rate.

Hate to see the following

“They don’t even fail anybody,” said a veteran sergeant who did not want his name used for fear of reprisal. “They keep trying and trying to get them to pass. They want a warm body in a blue uniform.”

Wow. Frightening. These guys carry guns are authorized to use them at their discretion. Here's hoping that the training is hella good.

[ATLTJL]

Couple that with the amount of money APD constantly has to pay out in settlements, which is sure to grow with this unqualified force and.....let's just say, if I had to pay city of Atlanta property taxes, I'd be watching the situation very carefully.

[ThreeSides]

In the interim, how about some good parenting. I am sick of the loitering teens in the parking lot of my apt. My KINDERGARTEN age daughter has homework! As does my 2nd grade age son, lots of it!. I'm certain these grown looking children have tons of homework!

[bernsee]

So nice to live in some sick military, police state. Wish I could escape this sick freak show and move back up North.

[tonygeorgia]

I knew the haters would be

[2Easy]

Interesting. It sounds like a lot compared to other cities it's size. As many as Long Beach, CA and Miami combined, but I guess that geographically Atlanta is over twice the size of both of those. On a per capita basis only a handful of major cities have that many officers (NY, Chicago, DC, maybe a few others). I guess when you consider that Atlanta is actually only a city of 450,000 or so, but is the center of a much larger metro area it makes some sense. There's much more going on in Atlanta compared to Long Beach or El Paso, but I dunno...still sounds like a lot. Maybe improving policing techniques by using things like Compstat as other cities have done might be more cost efficient.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by bernsee

So nice to live in some sick military, police state. Wish I could escape this sick freak show and move back up North.

A "military, police state"? How so?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

A "military, police state"? How so?

Well, we don't have a police state but there have been a number of incidents with over the top officers. For instance, you had those incidents recently where the police were pulling people's pants down in public during traffic stops. And a professor from England was beaten up for jaywalking while he was at a convention here. The Eagle mass arrests were apparently pretty abusive and of course there was the infamous shooting where they burst into an elderly woman's home with guns blazing over near the dome.

I'm sure those were just bad eggs, and my personal experience with APD has been pretty good.

Still, things do happen. I sort of get the feeling that America is over-criminalized and over-policed sometimes.

[tonygeorgia]

I see you can never please everyone. Years back when it weren't this many police everybody said the city was going down hill/etc and now that we have enough police we are a police state lol


SMH