Democrat Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday announced plans to add 250 new police officers to the streets after homicides surged 58 percent in 2020, Breitbart reports.
Speaking amid the mayor’s reelection campaign, Bottom blamed the increase in Atlanta homicides in 2020 on the court system, which “effectively shut down, people lost jobs, loved ones died, and our crime began to spike.”
According to a report, “90 police recruits are currently in the pipeline, and that she is working with the City Council to enact a retention bonus for officers.” The department currently employs 400 officers under Bottoms’ authorized level.
Bottoms said federal money, including dollars from the coronavirus relief package, will be used to finance the new officers and initiatives including “crime reduction programs and two new centers in southeast and southwest Atlanta to improve community policing efforts,” noting the old facilities are “too small, too old and not up to technological standards,” according to the report.
Bottoms requested a “change in culture in policing,” expressing that support for police and “holding officers accountable for improper conduct” are not “mutually exclusive,” Breitbart reports.