ATLANTA — Atlanta could soon be getting a seventh police zone.
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The Atlanta Police Department currently operates six zones across the city, along with a precinct at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. However, city leaders say the current system may be putting added strain on officers as Atlanta continues to grow.
The proposal would create a seventh zone by making the existing zones smaller and easier to patrol.
“This is a map of all six Atlanta police zones, plus the precinct at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport,” Atlanta City Council member Wayne Martin said. “But now, there’s an idea that some of those zones may be too large.”
Martin, who represents parts of southwest Atlanta, believes it may be time to add another police zone. He said reducing the size of the current zones could help improve public safety across the city.
“Well, we have a city that’s growing,” Martin said.
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Martin pointed to differences in population density across Atlanta as one reason the city should consider reevaluating its current zone boundaries.
“So out in southwest Atlanta, where I am, it is not as dense as it is in Midtown,” Martin said. “In midtown, you have a small area where people live, but it’s thousands of people. In my district, there are smaller amounts of people who live much more spread out.”
The Atlanta Police Union is also backing the idea.
“We definitely support that one, not only for the police officers, but for the neighborhood,” said Vince Champion with the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
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Champion said smaller zones could improve police visibility and response in communities.
“Having another zone will make it a more targeted area where we could probably get a substation in there, more presence, which again helps the neighborhood,” Champion said.
Martin introduced the proposal but chose to hold it in the Atlanta City Council’s Public Safety Committee so he could gather additional feedback from city officials and Atlanta Police leadership before moving forward.
“I don’t want to rush it,” Martin said. “I’d rather get things right than get them fast. We want to make sure we get this study right because safety hangs in the balance.”
Channel 2 Action News reached out to both the mayor’s office and Atlanta Police about the proposal. Atlanta police said it will support whatever the city council and the mayor decide is needed.