Atlanta police chief, other law enforcement officials hold crime town hall

ATLANTA — The Atlanta police chief and other sheriffs from metro Atlanta came together to talk about an issue on many people’s minds: Crime.

The Crime Time Town Hall was host by KISS 104.1 and moderated by Frank Ski Tuesday morning at the WSB-TV and radio studios.

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Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor, Atlanta Chief Rodney Bryant, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat and DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox all took part in the town hall.

Some of the law enforcement officials said that some of the blame for the rise in crime is due to mental health during the pandemic along with the economic impact.

But police said a shortage of police officers after to social justice movement last summer was also a factor in the crime spike.

“This is a national phenomena when New York had 600 police officers just leave at one time so at Atlanta’s police department, at our height, we lost about 34 officers at one time,” Bryant said.

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“You’re also looking at de-escalation and that comes from law enforcement as well as individuals, citizens, how to de-escalate and which is one of the reasons why I have “Boys to Men” camp. The first thing they do when they walk into the door, we’re going to teach you how to deescalate, how to calm the situation down. The first thing you do, you don’t have to go to a gun,” Maddox said.

Taylor said his department is working to change the culture and the relationship with the community.

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