A VIEW FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR "FROM TRAUMA TO HEALING"
The American Psychological Association (APA) defines trauma as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. It further provides that immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives.
Citizens across the nation and locally have experienced trauma introduced by the misconduct actions of the police officers. Just looking at recent news reports from San Rafael, CA, Chicago, IL, Rock Hill, SC, and interviews/experiences that citizens have reported over the years to the ACRB, it is clear that there is trauma associated with many actions that could be or are caused from officer misconduct. The trauma is compounded by the fact that efforts to hold officers accountable are usually frustrated by the very systems that are supposed to address, reduce, and eliminate officer misconduct.
Common comments from citizens to us in civilian oversight are “I will never forget what happened to me,” or “I always feel nervous around cops because of what happened to me.” The loss of dignity, respect, security, and lack of comfortableness in one’s own community are often expressed. Replaying the events, sleepless nights, anger, fear, and anxiety are common experiences.
The ACRB is concerned about the community and the individuals who experience trauma caused by officer misconduct or have anxiety caused by the continuous news reports of officer misconduct. We want to provide an avenue for citizens to reclaim their power.
The ACRB is launching a project to provide support to citizens who want to share with, learn from, and support other community members with the guidance of a licensed therapist. Opportunities to identify coping skills and move toward empowerment will be examined. The goal is to emotionally transition from trauma to healing because YOU MATTER! ACRB Truth and Healing Circle is a support group for community members who have experienced, witnessed, or been exposed to officer misconduct directly or indirectly. The goal of the program is to provide citizens with tools for empowerment in a safe confidential space for expression and support through a therapist-led supportive environment. Your participation, feedback, and perspective on this program is important to ensure that the program meets the needs of community members who are living with the trauma associated with officer misconduct. Call our hotline at 404 865-8622 to learn more about the ACRB Truth and Healing Circle Project.
Collegians File a Lawsuit Over Violent APD Arrests During George Floyd Protests
Spelman College student Taniyah Pilgrim and Morehouse student Messiah Young say they have recurring nightmares and are in
counseling over their violent arrests by the APD last summer during Atlanta’s George Floyd protests. Consequently, they have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city. “Living through this has been such a horrifying experience in like the anxiety that that night brings me every day, the nightmares I still have to experience almost every single night,” said Pilgrim. “Everyday, I’m reminded of something from that night,” Young said. They spoke during a news conference. Civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis who represents Young said “The city that we all love, the city that has been lifted up on so many occasions as a city of civil rights, a city of human rights, a city of giants and of heroes and sheroes, this city has failed to take responsibility.” Pilgrim and Young were Tasered, dragged from their vehicle and arrested at gunpoint. Calling it a clear case of excessive force, six APD officers were fired by Mayor Bottoms. Two of the officers’ terminations were overturned, according to the AJC. The officers’ attorney Lance LoRusso was quoted saying their was prompted by a fear that there was a gun inside the vehicle. No weapon was found.
Named in the suit alongside the city of Atlanta are Mayor Bottoms and the individual officers involved in the arrest, including Ivory Streeter, Mark Gardner, Lonnie Hood, Armond Jones,Willie T. Sauls and Ronald Claud. Attorneys said officers “stormed their car, smashed out their windows and tased and assaulted both of them” in the incident, which was captured on body cam video. Pilgrim was never charged with anything, and a charge against Young was dropped. “For these young people to have this video out and have to deal with this for the rest of their lives is unthinkable, but we are here to hold the city and all those involved accountable,” Davis said
A Farewell to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Keisha Lance Bottoms surprised not only the political establishment, but also the thousands of her supporters locally and nationally by announcing at a news conference on May 7, 2020 that she would not seek a second term as the 60th Mayor of the City of Atlanta. “The last three years have not been at all what I would have scripted for our city,” Mayor Bottoms said at a news conference announcing her decision. She cited a major cyber-attack in her first months in office, a federal corruption probe of former Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration that she said, “seemed to literally suck the air out of City Hall…There was last summer. There was a pandemic. There was a social justice movement. There was a madman in the White House…It is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else,” she said. Ironically, as Mayor Bottoms pointed out, her decision was announced as her high approval ratings in the polls made her confident that she would have been re-elected in the November 2021 mayoral election had she chosen to remain in office. Last summer, when the “City too Busy to Hate” was in violent turmoil over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Mayor appealed to rioters as a passionate Atlantan and mother to go home and support peaceful protests. She fired six officers who attacked a young couple in their vehicle, calling it a clear case of excessive force. When Rayshard Brooks was killed by an APD sworn officer, the mayor made the controversial decision to immediately fire the shooter, a decision that was reversed by the city’s civil service board because it said he was denied his right to due process. Mayor Bottoms thereafter signed an administrative order that requires officers to use de-escalation tactics prior to using physical or deadly force. It mandated that all deadly uses of force incidents involving APD be reported to the ACRB. Mayor Bottoms also supported Atlanta City Council legislation that included in the general fund an approximately one third budget increase to the ACRB for outreach, communications, additional positions, office renovation and relocation efforts. She sent a letter to ACRB Chair Cecilia Houston-Torrence: “I am appreciative of the extraordinary work that you and the members of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board (ACRB) do on behalf of the city of Atlanta in providing an important voice for members of the community who have concerns about their interactions with members of the Atlanta law enforcement community. Yours is a critical role in the effort to maintain accountability and transparency as we work to create One Atlanta – a safe, welcoming and inclusive City.” ACRB thanks Mayor Bottoms for her support of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board.
ATLANTA CITY COUNCIL NEWSBRIEFS
District 12 Council member Joyce Sheperd made an on-camera statement at the Atlanta Police Department’s Zone 3 Precinct, 2353 Metropolitan Parkway, in response to protestors gathering at her home and to answer any questions regarding legislation that she introduced authorizing a lease agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation to build a new, state-of-the-art Public Safety Training Campus (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0367). “People have a right to come out and say whether they are for or against it. I have no problem with that. I’ve been doing this for years and I know people have that right. But what they don’t have a right to do is come up on my private property, knock on my door, protest on my lawn and on my porch. They don’t have that right,” Shepherd said. “So I’m saying tonight that I’m still supporting the academy and I’m not scared.” The training academy would replace the dilapidated Atlanta police academy and fire academy buildings. Some area residents, progressive and activist groups that support a reduced police presence or defunding the police, oppose the plan. There has been an ongoing effort to create a multi-use regional park for the property. Others, who want a greater police presence, citing the city’s record crime rate, feel it is much-needed. Public hearings have been scheduled on the proposal to transform 150 acres of what was once the Atlanta Prison Farm, a city-owned property in Dekalb County, into a new public safety center.
A measure was initially approved to hold police officers more responsible with excessive force intervention among colleagues and also require APD supervisors to document all incidents when physical intervention occurs during an incident in the field.
Council passes an ordinance to am end the City’s charter to designate the two youth serving organizations that will each appoint a member between 18-30 years old to serve on the Atlanta Citizen Review Board. They are Street Sm art Youth Project and the Atlanta University Center Consortium , Inc. As a charter change, three readings were required to adopt the ordinance. (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0107).
ACRB WELCOMES TWO STAFF MEMBERS
ACRB has been enriched by the additions of two new staff members who bring a wealth of talent, skills and abilities.
Naomi Bonman is the Community Affairs Coordinator. She is a Southern California native. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Media with a concentration in Journalism from Clark Atlanta University, and her Masters of Public Administration from DeVry University. Naomi has worked in a variety of news media agencies, e- commerce/retail, health/wellness, public policy, and entertainment sectors. She has been covering beats for over 14 years in the areas of entertainment, fashion, social justice, community, sports, health, and education. Although her reporting has mostly involved writing, red carpet interviewing, and radio interviewing, Naomi has been recognized for her work by the California State Assembly three years in a row. “My career motto over the years has been, ‘Giving a voice to the voiceless’, and having the opportunity to work with such a prominent agency in the Atlanta area, I feel right at home with ACRB. With our missions being aligned, I knew I was in the right spot. I definitely see working with the ACRB as more than just a career, but a life mission.”
Melissa Jean-Baptiste is the agency’s new Communications Specialist. She joined the ACRB in May of 2021. Melissa is a native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of the Florida A&M University with a degree in Communications & Design. She has a background in Public Relations, Event Marketing and Corporate Communications. Melissa relocated to Atlanta in 2019 to assume the role as the Communications Coordinator for the State Road & Tollway Authority. During her tenure at the state agency, Melissa contributed to the launch of the first internal e-magazine featuring employees and their contributions to the agency and community as the publication editor. She is skilled in social media management and content creation.
ACRB Brings APD, Academicians, Elected/Civic Leaders Into The First ACRB Educator Fellow Program
July 2021 will go down as a landmark moment in the history of the agency with the inauguration of the ACRB Educator Fellows Professional Learning Program. The agency developed the program through a collaboration with Dr. H. Justin Ballenger, Assistant Professor of STEM Education and Executive Director – STEM Education Innovation (SEI) Lab, Tift College of Education at Mercer University. ACRB thanks the first accomplished professionals from Atlanta Public Schools (APS) who were exposed to five days of intensive detailed knowledge about the history, functions and impact of the agency from Executive Director Lee Reid, Board Chair Cecilia Houston-Torrence and local elected officials including Council President Felicia Moore and the Council’s Public Safety Chair Joyce Sheperd. The educators studied a curriculum, developed by Dr. Jami C. Friedrich, that is based on ACRB community education materials using GA school requirements for social and emotional educational standards for students, and provided invaluable feedback during the week. They were able to have frank discussions with six of the highest ranking members of the Atlanta Police Department during an APD Training Institute conference at Atlanta Metropolitan State College (AMSC), hosted by its president, Dr. Georj Lewis and Dr. Larry Stewart, AMSC Executive Director, Criminal Justice Program & Police Sciences Institute. They were moved and sometimes stunned by a bus tour of historic locations around Atlanta, hosted by Keith Strickland, founder of Making the Transition for under served kids, where citizens were tragically killed or their rights abused by the APD. It included the home where 92-year old grandmother Kathryn Johnston was gunned down by corrupt APD officers that led to the creation of the ACRB as it exists today. They learned about a series of pending police reform bills from its author, District 56 State Representative Sandra Scott. The educators emerged from the experience with a broader perspective about the ACRB, policing and their vital role in sharing the knowledge with their students and parents.. “I have several takeaways,” said Dr. Tim Jones, principal of B.E.S.T. Academy, during the bus tour. “First of all, I’m really doubling down on the importance of communication in terms of our students and what we’re reinforcing and what we are not reinforcing. The idea of policing and my concept of policing has really been impacted as a result of this opportunity. I think we’re doing great work. I think the citizen review board has so much merit that we just didn’t know about, we didn’t understand. But now, being an informed citizen, I want to do my part.”
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 Public Safety meetings, Atlanta City Council meetings and ACRB 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.
AND THE NEW ACRB MASCOT NAME IS "JUSTICE AVENGER", FOR NOW
Atlanta resident Franz Lynch stopped by Atlanta City Hall and picked up the grand prize 32″ TCL Roku Smart TV for winning the ACRB Name That
Mascot Contest.
The city’s legal department has launched a nationwide copyright search to determine whether the winning name for the ACRB mascot is available for marketing and promotional purposes. If it is, “Justice Avenger”will secure his place among fellow superheroes as he resumes his vital work in the community, teaching
youngsters how to observe and report police misconduct; as his adventures find their way into comic books, comic strips, live action shows and serial novels.
A final thanks to the scores of men and women, from ages 9 to 74, who submitted names. We appreciate the considerable thoughts, creativity and explanations for the names. “I’m glad I could help out and I hope it works well for you guys,” Lynch said in accepting his award.
THE ACRB TRUTH & HEALING CIRCLE
ACRB convened a focus group in preparation for its first independent series of Truth and Healing Circles that focuses on police/citizen relations, giving citizens an opportunity to confidentially express and share their feelings and experiences. Dr. Makungu M. Akinyela, a Licensed family therapist (LMFT) in private practice in metropolitan Atlanta, presided over the panel and expressed gratitude about being a part of “creating a space where people can be heard…This is not therapy, but community support.” ACRB Executive Director Lee Reid says the goal of the program is to provide citizens with tools for empowerment in a safe confidential space for expression and support through a therapist-led supportive environment. Once again, we urge your participation, feedback, and perspectives to ensure that the program meets the needs of citizens who are living with the trauma associated with officer misconduct. Call our hotline at 404 865-8622 to learn more about the ACRB Truth and Healing Circle Project.