Pennington (Atlanta Police Chief): Crime down 12 percent in ‘09 (Franklin: neighborhood, legally)

[Atlantasfinest]

Pennington: Crime down 12 percent in ‘09 *| ajc.com

“With 15 days to go Part I crimes are down 12 percent,” Pennington said, at Franklin’s regular press conference to discuss city business.

The outgoing police chief said murder, rape, robberies and aggravated assaults are all down. To date, he said there have been 75 murders reported in the city.

“We are proud of our murder statistics,” Pennington said. “The 75 murders are the lowest we have had in 40 years. In 2002, when I came, we had 167 murders.”

From my observations it seems like the perception of crime and fear are definitely up...

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by Atlantasfinest

“We are proud of our murder statistics,” Pennington said. “The 75 murders are the lowest we have had in 40 years. In 2002, when I came, we had 167 murders.”

Yep.. gotta be proud of "only" 75 people being murdered in your city.

I say "good riddance". Maybe New Orleans wants him back. They did so well under his leadership and produced such a morally outstanding police department from his teachings as well. (sarcasm)

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Yep.. gotta be proud of "only" 75 people being murdered in your city.

I say "good riddance". Maybe New Orleans wants him back. They did so well under his leadership and produced such a morally outstanding police department from his teachings as well. (sarcasm)

I mean you can't argue with that number, 75 murders in this city is an accomplishment comparatively speaking. I mean the numbers say he did a good job, this shows you that style is better than substance in Atlanta.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by onemanarmy

I mean you can't argue with that number, 75 murders in this city is an accomplishment comparatively speaking. I mean the numbers say he did a good job, this shows you that style is better than substance in Atlanta.

There have been numerous reports on the news and even by police though, who say that under his leadership, morale is way down in the APD. And let's not forget that shortly after he came here, the Feds were investigating tons of serious crimes that had not been entered into the database that they used to create stats, making Atlanta look safer than it was then. Pennington said it was a "clerical error", but it was something like thousands of misreported crimes.

I'm just saying, regardless, it's time for some new blood in there.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

There have been numerous reports on the news and even by police though, who say that under his leadership, morale is way down in the APD. And let's not forget that shortly after he came here, the Feds were investigating tons of serious crimes that had not been entered into the database that they used to create stats, making Atlanta look safer than it was then. Pennington said it was a "clerical error", but it was something like thousands of misreported crimes.

I'm just saying, regardless, it's time for some new blood in there.

I agree, morale is down, and perception of crime is up. He also did a terrible job of handling the murder of the elderly lady, so I'm not standing in his defense, however 75 murders is a VERY low number, which can't be fudged.

[PKCorey]

I wish for the day in my hometown of Baltimore, they can have the murder rate under 100...

Not bad but Pennington does a bad hands on job...

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by PKCorey

Not bad but Pennington does a bad hands on job...

He's great at keeping the city safe from underclad gay dancers, though.

Atlanta Eagle raided (for underwear dancers) « Feast of Fun Forums

[AcidSnake]

I feel that Pennington's downfall was that he failed to emulate the more personable and intangible aspects that come with his job. Those aspects are effective communication and LEADERSHIP. Leadership means being able to connect with the soldiers(the rank & file police officers) you are leading. Leadership means being able to convey a sense of sympathy and empathy with the citizenry you are sworn to protect.

The second there was a finding that APD was illegally involved in the Katherine Johnston shooting there should have been a "the buck stops here" type of moment from our Chief. He should have took complete and moral responsibility for that situation. He should have apologized in a news conference in the neighborhood of the shooting rather than hide behind a press release in a newspaper.

But like many men of power in this world, Chief Pennington failed to rise to the occasion. He chose to go underground and make excuses. He chose to throw out numbers and statistics when what was really needed was an FDR/JFK style of leadership. As of right now, his only legacy is the shiny new APD Headquarters at 226 Peachtree St, which at this moment can't even field enough 911 operators to go under the 10 minute response standard for APD police officers.

I certainly hope that Mayor Reed's next pick for police chief is a man or woman who is as savvy and articulate at dealing with the public as he or she is at crunching the numbers and statistics. Lazy governance I hope, will become a thing of the past.

[xavier132487]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

I feel that Pennington's downfall was that he failed to emulate the more personable and intangible aspects that come with his job. Those aspects are effective communication and LEADERSHIP. Leadership means being able to connect with the soldiers(the rank & file police officers) you are leading. Leadership means being able to convey a sense of sympathy and empathy with the citizenry you are sworn to protect.

The second there was a finding that APD was illegally involved in the Katherine Johnston shooting there should have been a "the buck stops here" type of moment from our Chief. He should have took complete and moral responsibility for that situation. He should have apologized in a news conference in the neighborhood of the shooting rather than hide behind a press release in a newspaper.

But like many men of power in this world, Chief Pennington failed to rise to the occasion. He chose to go underground and make excuses. He chose to throw out numbers and statistics when what was really needed was an FDR/JFK style of leadership. As of right now, his only legacy is the shiny new APD Headquarters at 226 Peachtree St, which at this moment can't even field enough 911 operators to go under the 10 minute response standard for APD police officers.

I certainly hope that Mayor Reed's next pick for police chief is a man or woman who is as savvy and articulate at dealing with the public as he or she is at crunching the numbers and statistics. Lazy governance I hope, will become a thing of the past.

Meh, I'm tired of horse and pony shows, such as those put on in Congress. I don't care about them connecting with me. I want results, hard numbers. He got them. Case closed for me and others like me.

[axemanjoe]

Atlanta will have at least four more years of racist government, as long as Reed's mayor anyway. The current condition of APD is what hapens when the mayor uses race as the basis for selecting a chief. Reminds me of the John Shelton Reed quote; "Every time I look at Atlanta I'm reminded of what half a million Confederate soldiers died trying to prevent"