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Georgia House passes bill that could abolish police department after Arbery shooting

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The Georgia House backed an effort Friday to dissolve the Glynn County Police Department following its handling of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The House voted 152-3 to allow voters to decide to eliminate their county police departments, moving authority to county sheriff’s offices.

There are seven state-certified county police departments in Georgia — and many of those are in metro Atlanta, including Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. In counties where there are two agencies, the county police handle the enforcement of state and local laws while the sheriff’s office manages the jail.

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This story was written by Mark Niesse for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.