The last time the city’s homicide count was this high was in 1998, when the department investigated 154 deaths, records show. The Atlanta Police Department investigated 99 homicides in all of 2019.
“I am deeply concerned about the spike that we are seeing in our homicides,” Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently told the AJC, “not just our homicides, but also with our aggravated assaults.”
Following the little girl’s death, conflicts between Bottoms and members of the city council started to spill out in the open. Councilman Howard Shook was sharply critical in a statement on December 22nd:
“To the administration, I don’t want to hear the word ‘uptick. Stop minimizing our concerns by telling us that ‘crime is up everywhere.’ Spare us from the lie that the steady outflow of our officers isn’t as bad as it is. And please, not another throw-away press conference utterly devoid of game-changing action steps. It will take a lot to turn this around. But here, in des
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (Getty Images)
The US has seen some serious polarization over the question of defunding the police and dismantling police departments in a number of big cities in the wake of the killing of George Floyd earlier this year in Minneapolis. The debate saw Right and Left forces engaging in debates and the Democratic Party particularly saw itself divided over the effectiveness of the idea of defunding the police.
But before the controversy died down, the city of Atlanta has seen a fresh development as its city council proposed a plan worth $1.6 million to set up a police force in one of the wealthiest suburbs just days after a seven-year-old girl was fatally shot.
“While the Atlanta Police Department has significant leads in the apprehension of those responsible, it does not erase the pain felt when a beautiful, vibrant, and loving child is tragically taken from her family,” she said. “We urge the public to continue to provide information that will lead to the arrests of the careless and heartless people responsible for Kennedy’s death.”
According to the Daily Mail, members of Bottoms’ administration support the proposal that is also backed by local law enforcement.
BREAKING: Police have identified the shooting death of 7 year old, Kennedy Maxie who was killed while shopping with her parents during the Christmas holiday at Phipps Plaza.
Atlanta proposes to spend $1.6million on private police force for wealthy suburb - known as The Beverly Hills of the East - as Dem star mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms admits she doesn t know how to stop crime wave after 7-year-old girl is shot dead
Atlanta city council members have proposed a $1.6million plan to create a private police force in Buckhead, one of its wealthiest suburbs
Comes after Kennedy Maxie, 7, was shot in the head by a stray bullet after Christmas shopping with her family on December 21
The proposal has so far been backed by local law enforcement and members of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms administration
Chicago alderman Anthony Napolitano and Atlanta city councilman Howard Shook on what needs to change in US cities across the nation to bring down crime.
Murder rates skyrocketed – and in some cases, even smashed records – in major U.S. cities as the nation grapples with a surge in violent crime in 2020.
The cities often associated with murder and other violence, such as Chicago and New York City, were joined by less likely suspects – Louisville and Milwaukee, among others – in reporting higher than usual numbers for 2020, statistics compiled by Fox News show.
Here’s a look at a crime breakdown and which cities are facing such issues as 2020 comes to a close.