Members of the Atlanta city council proposed spending $1.6 million to hire a private security force specifically to protect the affluent Buckhead neighborhood amid a rise in gun violence, despite calls to “defund” the Atlanta police department.
The Independent reports that, following a shooting near a Buckhead mall that left a 7-year-old girl dead, Atlanta city leaders have been looking for a way to handle the city’s growing gun violence problem and, despite calling to defund the police earlier in the year, now want to splash out on a private security force to protect the city’s wealthier residents.
The city council has a full plan specifically for Buckhead, per a “Buckhead Security Plan” slide deck made available on Monday. Objectives of the plan include, “Funding and establishing a supplementary, multi-car dedicated security patrol utilizing off-duty sworn officers of APD, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, and Georgia State Patrol. The supplementary patrol will be for exclusive use within Buckhead commercial corridors and will be managed by the Zone 2 Commander at APD to augment on-duty APD patrol (NT).”
The police force is designed to work “in tandem” with existing law enforcement bureaus, and the city council is committing $125,000 to the effort initially. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution puts the final cost of the program, however, at a cool $1.6 million.- READ MORE
Listen to the insightful Thomas Paine Podcast Below --