Atlanta has turned into a war zone because police fear doing their jobs, according to AJC columnist Bill Torpy.
Torpy in his Monday column disclosed a spike in shootings and deaths recently following charges against police officers in the Rayshard Brooks killing and a Taser attack against college students during a protest downtown.
"Violence is off the chain in Atlanta," concluded Torpy, taking on the duties once filled by AJC police reporters.
From May 31 to June 20, 75 people have been shot in Atlanta, with 11 killed, he found. Last year during the same period, 35 shootings resulted in five deaths, he said.
While Torpy didn't mention race, most of the incidents were likely blacks shooting other blacks.
The crime surge coincides with a big falloff in police making traffic stops, Torpy reported. In the third week of June, 50 car stops by police were reported, compared with an astounding 3,000 over the same period last year, he found.
He reported that Atlanta officers are backing off from "proactive policing" because of the criminal indictments and fatigue from dealing with the recent protests of the George Floyd killing.
"Being proactive will probably get you indicted under the current state of affairs," Jason Segura, head of the city police union, told Torpy in castigating Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for calling for arrests and sanctions against police. "She's going to listen to the mob," Segura said.
Torpy asked "where's the outrage?"over the crime wave. What about the outrage over police not carrying out their duties to the fullest?
I would suggest that soldiers sent into battle, will draw way back on the risk they take when they understand that their leaders are surrendering their unit tomorrow., especially if the enemy forces plan to execute anyone who continues fighting.
Lack of leadership does not inspire individual courage from the ranks. Betrayal takes it another step toward total shutdown.
Heaven help the City of Atlanta. It has been the center of my life for 75 years, but I too am leaving. I have no confidence that an implosion can be avoided. I hope to be wrong.
Posted by: Alan Gravitt | 06/29/2020 at 05:01 PM