A VIEW FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR "TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY"
Anajanette Young, a Chicago woman, recounted a horrible experience she had at the hands of Chicago police officers in February 2019. She relived the day that she was naked and handcuffed when officers raided her house. She stood uncovered for two minutes before she was given a blanket that did not fully cover her body, while 12 officers searched her home—the wrong house. Now think if it were you, your mother, sister, wife, or significant other who remained in various stages of nakedness for 20 minutes pleading with officers, trying to tell them they had the wrong house. The lack of respect and dignity that the officers displayed was a direct insult to her humanity. It was an indication of what is going on inside of the uniform.
Dignity and respect are the foundational requirements of a fair and just society that values humanity. While those who wear the blue are a microcosm of society, they are trained and expected to operate at a higher standard because of the enormous power that they have. However, like citizens, the core of the individual ultimately determines whether they will show restraint when they could act out, compassion when they could be abusive, and humanity when they could dehumanize.
Dignity and respect are the foundational requirements of a fair and just society that values humanity. While those who wear the blue are a microcosm of society, they are trained and expected to operate at a higher standard because of the enormous power that they have. However, like citizens, the core of the individual ultimately determines whether they will show restraint when they could act out, compassion when they could be abusive, and humanity when they could dehumanize.
Many of the situations where officers display a lack of respect and compassion for citizens do not occur in violent, rapidly evolving incidents. They occur in the routine daily officer interactions with citizens. Interactions that are easily overlooked when no one is looking, explained away when the department has no respect for that individual citizen, or merely not considered important enough to correct abusive behavior. But it is those very interactions that shape a community’s perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about the officers in their community. This is why officer selection is one of the most important factors to the quality of policing. Even if it may appear to be difficult or even impossible to know the true core of an individual, sound policies, adequate training, and quick, effective accountability can help those officers whose lines are slanted or bent or become misaligned over time on the job get back straight. For those persons, whose lines are broken, removal, instead of dehumanization or causing harm to another person, is the right answer.
If you have a concern about the actions of an Atlanta police or corrections officer, please contact the Atlanta Citizen Review Board at 404-865-8622. We are here to serve you!
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR DENIED IN THE RAYSHARD BROOKSCASE
According to news reports, Georgia’s Attorney General denied a request to assign a special prosecutor to the Rayshard Brooks shooting case. Ex-Atlanta officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Brooks in the back after the 27 year old citizen fired a Taser in the officer’s direction while running away after a struggle with officers outside a Wendy’s restaurant on June 12, 2020. Attorneys for Rolfe filed to have his case dismissed after the attempted recusal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis who twice asked Attorney General Chris Carr to reassign the cases. But he rejected those requests. The attorneys argued that “there is no qualified prosecutor on this case at this time.” Following the killing of Brooks, Mayor Bottoms and some members of Atlanta City Council called for all future fatal shootings of citizens by sworn officers of the APD be automatically referred to the ACRB.
ACRB WELCOMES TWO NEWBOARD MEMBERS
The ACRB welcomes two new Board members representing clusters of Neighborhood Planning Units (NPU) from the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board (APAB), who bring their considerable talents, skills and abilities to the diverse panel of citizens.
Christie Peters was sworn in as a Board Member on February 24, 2021 for a three-year term to represent NPU S-Z. Ms. Peters addressed the Board during its regular monthly meeting in March 2021 on her first official day on the Board. “I’m just very happy to be here serving and I look forward doing so in the future.”
Mrs. Peters is the Principal/Managing Member of Rapid Recovery & Restoration, LLC, a general contractor, and disaster recovery services firm with offices in Atlanta and Macon. Rapid Recovery & Restoration, LLC is a WOSB, SBE certified and Hub Zone located business with a staff of estimators, project management, design, marketing, and construction management professionals. As owner, Mrs. Peters sets the direction for the company, and oversees financial management and project selection.
Prior to forming Rapid Recovery & Restoration, LLC in 2014, the Clark Atlanta University graduate was employed at H. J. Russell & Company as a financial analyst, broker of record and commercial property manager from April 2013 until April 2014. She evaluated potential development projects, refinanced H. J. Russell’s multifamily housing portfolio, performed financial analysis of potential acquisitions, lease negotiation and administration for the commercial retail portfolio and oversaw the company’s trust accounts for the multifamily assets. Mrs. Peters was able to learn many facets of the construction management, development, and property management businesses during her time at H. J. Russell & Company that she continues to employ as owner of Rapid Recovery & Restoration, LLC.
Dr. Michael D. Woodard was sworn in as a Board Member on February 24, 2021 for a three-year term, representing Atlanta Planning Advisory Board (APAB), Neighborhood Planning Units (NPU) G-L.
Dr. Woodard is trained as a sociologist, earning a master’s degree and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree at the University of Chicago, Department of Sociology. Dr. Woodard has served as a Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, University of Missouri, Columbia, and Clark Atlanta University. His present research focuses on criminal justice outcomes and examines the Impact of Ban-the-Box Policy on the Reintegration of Returning Citizens.
Dr. Woodard has resided in the City of Atlanta for 16 years. He coordinates the Neighborhood Watch Program for his community and serves as chair of the Public Safety Committee in NPU-I. He is a Certified Mediator, attends Cascade United Methodist Church and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
“I consider it an honor and privilege to serve on the Atlanta Citizen Review Board,” Dr. Woodard said. “The mission of this Board is to provide oversight to the Atlanta Police Department and the Department of Corrections that is critical to the quality of life we enjoy in the City of Atlanta. Every neighborhood wants responsive policing that enhances safety in their community. The Atlanta Citizen Review Board is essential in helping to keep neighborhoods safe. Each decision I make will be driven by the need to ensure responsive and community oriented policing throughout
NPUs G-L and the City of Atlanta.”
Dr. Woodard continued, “My sincere thanks to the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board for nominating me to this Board. I must also acknowledge my predecessor, Ms. Sherry Williams, for six years of strongly representing NPUs G-L. I will strive to add the impressive body of work you leave for me to follow. I look forward to getting to know each member of the ACRB and working with you to ensure that every Atlanta citizen enjoys responsive and community oriented policing.”
Excerpts from Director Reid's Presentation of the ACRB Quarterly Report to the Atlanta City Council Public Safety & Legal Administration Committee
Executive Director Reid: On behalf of the ACRB, led by Ms. Cecilia Houston Torrence and staff I would like to thank you for having us to present a third quarter update on the agency. We at the ACRB are an independent investigative agency of the City of Atlanta authorized to investigate citizen complaints against Atlanta police and corrections officers. The hallmarks of our work are fairness, thoroughness and independence. During 2020, we received 86 complaints. 46 were assigned for a full investigation. The Board adjudicated 40 complaints during other Board meetings. At the end of the year, we had 31 open investigations and 5 completed investigations awaiting Board review in 2021. Our work is still being impacted by COVID, but with the upcoming spring and summer, we will see an uptick as we normally do…The top allegations: Violations of SOPs (APD Standard Operating Procedures), Appropriate Action Required, Excessive Force and Conduct amounted to 83% of the allegations received. The protests of 2020, 911 type of progress calls and traffic stops accounted for nearly half of the reasons police encounters with citizens led to complaints. Black males over 35 years old file the majority of the complaints, while Black males over 35 with over five years of experience on the force receive the majority of the complaints. Sixty three percent (63%) of the complaints came from Zones 1, 3 and 5 while 55 of the complaints came from Council Districts 1, 3, 6 and 12. Many of the complaints from Zone 5 were associated with the protesters. The agency completed 35 complaint investigations and reduced the investigative timeline by 25%. The backlog of complaints awaiting Board review, when we were able to resume Board meetings were reduced by 80%. That’s only five awaiting review at the end of the year. The rate of agreement on sustained complaints as of March 3, 2021 was 71%. Although the percentage is a little lower than what I last reported in December, this percentage remains a vast improvement from prior years on sustained allegations. While we still have 40% of sustained allegations waiting decisions from the chief, 71% may change over time as we await those decisions.
Community engagement is about keeping citizens aware of the agency in a way that will let citizens know that they have a trusted resource about interactions with Atlanta police and corrections officers. One of the adjustments that we continue to work with for community engagement is social media. We primarily use social media to provide information, encourage conversation and drive traffic to the website. Here are the things that we have identified from our social media platform. Our citizens want to know more about our agency process, our role in officer accountability and receiving media inquiries. Our highest traffic came during the (2020 George Floyd) protests. Traffic also increased when we released new initiatives. Our website traffic increases when we publish news stories of local and national police use of force action. COVID-19 changed how we do our business. When we compare how we typically engage citizens in the spring and summer through direct contact in festivals and outings, the effects of COVID results in our maintaining and increasing the shift to mass media and social media usage during our high season which is typically during the spring and summer.
Soon we will begin rolling out our mobile units for increased visibility as more people are moving about now and continue to make more use of our virtual environment. We have two new Board members and two new seats to the Board. The Board committees have started meeting. Board training has resumed. We are renaming our ACRB mascot and continue to increase national exposure of the agency. In closing, I want to l thank the citizens of Atlanta for continuing to trust the agency to address their concerns. I want to thank Mayor Bottoms and her administration and City Council for your continued support of the agency. I want to also thank the Board members and the staff for their commitment to doing this work. I know it seems that we are always pushing up the hill, but we have to keep pushing. If citizens have a question or concern or complaint about an interaction with an Atlanta police or correction officer, please call 404 865 8622, or visit us on the web at acrbgov.org.
Committee Chair Sheperd: I’ve been looking and I’ve been actually seeing your mass communication go out. I’ve seen you out on the buses, different places. I even actually saw a commercial on TV last week with ACRB. I was like, “Wow.” I was scared to ask how much did it cost and how often are you running it, but it was actually on a local TV station. Have you seen it? I’m sure you have.
Executive Director Reid: Yes ma’am, I have. that’s an initiative that we started the end of last year to make up for the lack of direct contact that we could have with citizens.
Committee Chair Sheperd: Well, I think it’s working…
The Creation of the Gwinnett Citizens Police Advisory Board
For more than a decade, the ACRB has been the only government-established civilian oversight of law enforcement agency in the State of Georgia. But following the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who was in police custody, Georgia now has a county-wide citizen advisory board. Although the Gwinnett County Police Citizens Advisory Board does not have the authority to investigate citizen complaints, subpoena power nor the independence of the ACRB, Executive Director Reid sees the creation of such a board as a benefit for communities in Gwinnett County. It provides input regarding policing policies, practices, and training programs and maintains a partnership between the community and law enforcement. The 11-member board holds public meetings to discuss issues surrounding police matters. The board of commissioners indicated in a news release that the advisory board will assist the Gwinnett police department by using a collaborative problem-solving process that supports both the community and the police department’s desire to enhance public safety. According to the AJC, Gwinnett County Police Chief Brett West told the commissioners “The goal of the Gwinnett County Police Citizen Advisory Board is to assist the Gwinnett county Police Department by collaborating with the community in the implementation and sustainment of reforms that improve community-oriented policing practices, transparency, professionalism, accountability, community inclusion, fairness, effectiveness and public trust while taking into account national standards, best practices, current and emerging research and community expectations.”
The 11-member board is comprised of representatives from various groups across the county and provides advice to the police department, the county administrator, and the board of commissioners. The board includes appointees from each member of the board of commissioners, a Gwinnett 101 Citizens Academy graduate, and one member from each of the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the Gwinnett Bar Association Criminal Defense Section, the Gwinnett Tech Student Government Association, View Point Health and Gwinnett cities within the Police Services District. Members will serve staggered two-year terms.
Director Reid Praises new Louisville Police Chief & the City'sNew Citizen Review Board
Executive Director Lee Reid, during an interview with Ashleigh Mills from Spectrum News1, Louisville, KY, praised Erika Shields, the city’s newest police chief and former head of the APD before resigning following the police killing of Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot in Atlanta last June of 2020. Executive Director Reid shared words of praise on the working relationship he had with Shields in Atlanta, saying “Without question, working with Chief Shields has been the best chief to work with. She’s attentive, she took the conversation seriously as far as what can be done and what we need to do to move the police department in that direction. She is open to exploring the possibilities.”
Reid also expressed support for Louisville’s new Civilian Review and Accountability Board which was modeled after the ACRB. The board and the appointment of Chief Shields is the result of ongoing efforts to bring about reforms to the Louisville Metro Police Department in the wake of the deadly raid last year involving the police killing of Breonna Taylor. The group adds another layer of oversight to the LMPD and will work with the city’s new inspector general, creating a new process for independent reviews.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AND BE HEARD!
The keyword in the Atlanta Citizen Review Board is CITIZEN. The agency is only as effective as the level of Citizen involvement. This is why ACRB urges all Citizens to regularly monitor, question and support its work. This is why ACRB urges all Citizens to know where your elected officials stand on civilian oversight of police and corrections. This is why it is so important for Citizens to be registered and vote. This is why Citizens need to join and be active in community groups. Get involved in Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs). Attend online Public Safety meetings, Atlanta City Council meetings, ACRB meetings and KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Training Workshops. Call the public comment lines when Council or ACRB votes on issues that matter to Citizens like you. Become a member of the ACRB Board when seats are available. Contact ACRB for details. Thank you, Citizens of Atlanta, for your continued support
THANKS TO THE "NAME THAT MASCOT CHALLENGE" CONTESTANTS
A special thanks goes out to all the men and women, from ages 9 to 74, who submitted new names for ACRB’s community mascot who has educated thousands of our youngest citizens over the years about the ACRB and what they can do to help the agency correct local police misconduct. We appreciate the considerable thoughts, creativity, and explanations for the names. They were so outstanding and inspirational that it led to the idea of developing a crew of superheroes, including females, that will enable the agency to reach a greater number of youngsters throughout the Atlanta Metro with the ACRB message. The entries with the most votes will be sent to the City of Atlanta Legal Department which will search for possible copyright/trademark infringements before the official winner is announced.
THE ACRB BILL BOARD & GEO FENCING CAMPAIGN
Early last year, due to the COVID-19 crisis, face-to-face contact with citizens was restricted by the Mayor who, out of an abundance of caution, imposed a stay-at-home order for all non-essential city employees. It kept this and other agencies from conducting routine outreach meetings and trainings. Given the events of 2020, with the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and others, the need to remind residents of their rights and contact the ACRB to report police misconduct was greater than ever.
Consequently, the agency launched a static/digital billboard campaign, including bus shelters, in more than 30 locations in the Atlanta Metro. The messages were clear: “We are here to protect your rights,” “It’s about respect and understanding,” “Know Your Rights! Stay Calm. Don’t Run! Report Police Misconduct”, “Investigates, Mediates, Equals ACRB. Call 404.865.8622.
A geo-fencing initiative simultaneously coincided with the billboard campaign. It placed our banner ads on mobile devices whenever a person came within a 5-mile radius of ACRB’s 12 bus shelters and 21 junior posters. It successfully drove users to the new ACRB mobile website, generating more than 333,000 impressions, and driving 42.4% of users to the ACRB website by mobile device, up 213%.
