A View From the Executive Director: The Importance of Transparency
Lee Reid, ACRB Executive Director
Transparency is one of the agency’s foundational pillars. The mission of ACRB is to allow citizens to easily understand the actions of an officer, the complaint process of the investigation of an officer’s actions, and the subsequent responses of the police department. The ACRB is committed to providing information related to its operation and the police department’s response to our investigations and recommendations. Our goal is to increase and maintain the conversation of officer accountability and improving relationships between citizens and officers. We believe that society benefits from more informed citizens about policing and officer accountability because policing should reflect the values and needs of the citizens. Transparency places all of us in a better position to have the most reliable information to ask the best questions, dispel myths, and push for effective actions that will cause systemic changes. If you have a concern about the action of an Atlanta police or corrections officer, call us at 404-865-8622, email ACRB at acrb@atlantaga.gov or submit a complaint on our website at acrbgov.org/file-a-complaint.
Newly Appointed APD Interim Chief Darin Schierbaum Appears Before the ACRB
Shortly after being named the interim chief of the Atlanta Police Department (APD), Darin Schierbaum made it a point to appear before the board at Atlanta Citizen Review Board’s June monthly meeting. The board addressed concerns about APD that had been communicated to the department. A 20-year member of the APD, Schierbaum succeeded Chief Rodney Bryant who retired in June 2022, after being appointed Interim Chief of Police in June 2020, then confirmed as the Department’s 25th Chief in May 2021. When he introduced the new chief, ACRB Executive Director Lee Reid indicated he had developed a good working relationship with Schierbaum over the years that started after Schierbaum was assigned to the APD’s Training Section. A training partnership was formed under Shierbaum with the Atlanta Citizen Review Board and other community-based organizations. Reid stated, “He has been just a great person to work with”.
The greatest concern expressed to Chief Schierbaum by the Board was the lack of responses from Chief Bryant to ACRB sustained citizen complaints against APD officers for over a year. As Director Reid explained during a quarterly meeting before Atlanta City Council’s Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee, “The problem with that is it goes to the original mission of the agency (transparency) and to citizens concerns about how serious the APD and the city is about holding officers accountable for their actions. It is my understanding that those allegations are still pending investigations by the (APD) Office of Professional Standards”. Board member Dorthey Hurst spoke about disseminating more data to the community and said to Chief Schierbaum, “One of the things that’s very important for us is that when we do our work, and they see the piece (Chief responses) coming from APD empty, it leaves that void that APD is not doing their part”. Schierbaum responded, “ We don’t want anyone looking at that column and drawing conclusions that aren’t accurate, that the police department doesn’t believe in the role or mission of the ACRB, that the police department is not investigating cases, or that the police department is in no way cooperating with the ACRB. And I think those conclusions could be drawn from anyone that looks at that. I have already asked this week to receive a full report on the outstanding (ACRB complaint) letters and asked my Chief of Staff this week to provide me a plan of how we’re going to work out that backlog and get current. And so that’s something we are working on and we hope to have a report on how we will be moving forward on that very, very quickly”.
The ACRB returned to holding its regular monthly meetings at Atlanta City Hall on April 14, 2022 after the lifting of specific COVID restrictions. Mayor Dickens declared as of March 7, 2022, that all boards, authorities, commissions, committees, and other similar bodies will return to in-person public meetings.
Maryland Approves Sweeping Police Accountability Legislation
This election year, would your Georgia state elected official support the establishment of civilian oversight boards of law enforcement in each of the state’s 159 counties?
ACRB remains the only independent, transparent government-funded citizen oversight agency of its kind in Georgia.
Effective on July 1, 2022, the Maryland Police Accountability Act will require each county to have a Police Accountability Board, hold quarterly meetings with heads of law enforcement agencies to improve matters of policing, receive complaints of police misconduct filed by the public, and by December 31 2022, submit a report to County Commissioners recommending policy changes to improve police accountability. Maryland state legislators approved HB 670.
GA State Representative Sandra Scott introduced HB 35, The Ethical Policing Act last session, which also required every county and city to establish its own civilian oversight and provide greater protections for citizens though enhanced accountability for law enforcement departments and their officers. The bill received very little support from the Georgia legislature. Given the success of a similar measure in Maryland, it will be interesting to see whether HB 35 becomes a political issue in Georgia’s fall 2022 campaigns for elective office in Georgia.
Protestors and Law Enforcement Continue Clash Over Construction of a New Training Facility
Protests over construction of a training complex for Atlanta police and fire departments have become increasingly widespread and aggressive. Last May 2022, Atlanta police said officers, who moved to clear out the encampments that have been there since December 2021, arrested multiple people who allegedly threw rocks and an apparent “Molotov cocktail” at law enforcement during demonstrations at the site of the proposed Atlanta police and fire facility. Protestors denied attacking officers, saying police were intimidating them and suppressed their right to free speech. Police are now offering up to $25,000 for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for vandalizing properties.
Protesters who named the project “Cop City” had taken to the forest to block construction. Police say some people who call them-selves “forest defenders” have been sabotaging construction efforts.
Even before September 2021, when Atlanta City Council voted to authorize a lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) for a $90-million state-of-the-art public safety training facility in Southeast Atlanta, there were months of delays, widespread community protest from nearby residents, environmentalists and other opponents. There were more than 17 hours of public comment. Reportedly, some 70 percent of the 1,100 comments opposed it. The complex, which would replace the dilapidated police and fire training facilities, will sit on forested land that was once home to the old Atlanta prison farm. APF would build on 85 acres and preserve the remaining portion of the 265-acre property as the city’s largest green space, which is currently not accessible to the public.
APD and the APF say the training venue is needed to curb the rising crime rate in Atlanta. Opponents warn of environmental dam-age from “Cop City” that will harm the South River running through the property and further contribute to what they call environmental racism. Reportedly, the neighborhoods surrounding the South River Forest, 71 to 88 percent of residents are Black, with asthma rates in the 94th percentile and diabetes in the 80th percentile nationally. The vast majority of residents live at or below the federal poverty level, and the neighborhoods rank in the 96th percentile nationally for toxic water pollution.
ACRB Reaches Out, Where You Are
Congratulations to Mayor Dickens, Atlanta City Council and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) for a successful Midnight Spring Basketball program and the fulfillment of the mayor’s vision for such a great league over many years. ACRB was there when it began on March 30, 2022. It continued every Wednesday through the finals, which was held on June 8, 2022. When it was over, 11Alive re-ported the program, involving more than 100 participants on ten teams, many with a criminal past, played a role in significantly reducing crime in the Adamsville area where the games were played over the same period last year. However, the league is much more than the games, free food and haircuts. Players, fans, and other citizens, including seniors and families, were able to benefit from a variety of community service organizations that could provide information on job-hunting assistance, record expungement, GED preparedness, substance abuse support, and the pro-grams and services of the ACRB.
Congratulations also goes to the C.T. Martin team for winning the 2022 Midnight Basketball Spring Championship trophy (pictured below, left); DPR Recreation Di-rector Ramondo Davidson, Council Members Andrea Boone (pictured, below right), Marci Collier Overstreet Byron Amos among many other supporters. Reportedly, the league is growing and more teams will join this summer. New seasons are to be scheduled every few months.
ACRB at the Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Musical Festival
Special thanks to Board member Germaine Austin (above), our Integrity Street Team (IST) members, and the ACRB Outreach Unit who spent hours working in 90 degree heat sharing the ACRB story with citizens.
What an awesome weekend spectacle at the 10th Annual Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Festival at Centennial Olympic Park as the city celebrated the nation’s newest national holiday commemorating slavery emancipation. The festival was held from Friday, June 17 to Sunday, June, 19. Just about every facet of African American life and culture was on full display. ACRB was among the thousands of visitors enjoying the festivities as we shared our programs and services with them. A special thanks to the hundreds of citizens who stopped by the ACRB booth during the three-day event to learn about ACRB oversight of Atlanta police and corrections and what they can do if they encounter police misconduct.
This is Why...
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 correctional officers. This is why… it is so important for Citizens to be registered to 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; ACRB KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Training Workshops, and become a member of the ACRB. There are currently, two vacant seats, which include: Atlanta Planning Advisory Board for NPUs A-F and one vacancy for an organization representing 18-to-30-year-old citizens. Call the public comment lines when Council or the ACRB votes on issues that matter to you. ACRB’s Public Comment Line number is 404-546-7848 and it is open on the second Wednesday of the month between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Your comments will be heard the next day during the monthly board meeting of the ACRB. Go to acrbgov.org for details. Thank you, citizens of Atlanta, for your continued support.
South Fulton/College Park Honors a Legendary Community Activist & Native Son: Eddie Munford Jr.
ACRB was part of `College Park/South Fulton’s first Community Wellness Fair in conjunction with the EJM Community Connection Day at Old National Park. Working with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and Street Smart Youth Project, it was a chance to display community resources in mental health, behavioral wellness, smoking cessation, insurance options, small business awareness, and of course, ACRB programs and services. Mayor Khalid Kamau of South Fulton, declared Sunday, June 5, 2022, Eddie Munford, Jr. Day, and presented a plaque to his widow, Yolanda Munford in his honor. “He passed, unfortunately last year, and his legacy lives on,” said Mayor Kamau If you live outside of the College Park/South Fulton area you might not have heard of the late community activist. “He actually was a coach out here at Old National Park, he actually had quite a few kids that actually moved on to the college level, he [has] two kids [who] just got drafted to the NFL in the last draft,” said Ms. Munford.” He was an advocate for the homeless, went and fed the homeless, he was also giving back to prisoners, [he] also helped kids trying to go to school. Because of that, we want to continue to build the legacy that he started. Even though he’s gone, we don’t have to have his dream and vision leave with him.” The event was held on Mr. Munford’s birthday. The EJM Homeless and Scholarship Fund, Inc. was created to continue his work. Organizers plan to celebrate Mr. Munford’s birthday each year by making the EJM Community Connection Day and the Community Wellness Fair an annual event.
