COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Recent police shootings are changing how local officers respond to calls.
In the past, it was common for one officer to respond to a call, but now you are more likely to see at least two officers.
The changes come after five officers were ambushed and killed in Dallas, and three more in Baton Rouge.
At recent suspicious package call in Marietta, Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt noticed a large law enforcement response, including officers on the roof overlooking the area as bomb techs worked the scene below. The package turned out to be harmless, but the response is a reaction to the current climate. %
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“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, nothing I’ve ever felt before,” former officer Brent Brown said.
Brown runs his own security company, Chesley Brown International. He told Cavitt that some of his cop friends are considering hanging it up, and those on the streets feel the need to look out for one another.
“In the military we call that force protection for the military protecting the actual soldiers and airman. In law enforcement the force protection is the actual police officer so you're going to see two, three, sometimes four times as many responding to something a year ago might have been just one officer,” Brown said.
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Steve Gaynor, the chapter president of the Cobb Fraternal Order of Police, urges people to be more understanding when they deal with a cautious police force.
“Officers have to be more cautious going to the call,” he said. “It may be a true call from a law-abiding citizen but they aren't sure until they get there and feel it out. And I believe you're going to see sometimes more than one or two officers show up just because they're not sure what the call is."
Atlanta police officers met Monday to evaluate its safety protocols. The department says in some parts of the city, they will put two officers in one car as they respond to calls.