Georgia Speaker: State Study To Look At Atlanta Rising Crime

Georgia’s speaker of the House wants to study whether the state should intervene in policing the city of Atlanta, saying levels of violence in the state’s largest city and capital have become intolerable.

House Speaker David Ralston announced Thursday that he would appoint a study committee to examine violence in Atlanta, with the group likely reporting before the 2022 legislative session whether the state should take action.

“Atlanta has a crime problem, and it doesn’t seem to be able to bring it under control,” Ralston told reporters. “Sadly, the facts paint a chilling reality. Not only is crime on the rise in every corner of this city, but we are losing the fight against crime.”

The speaker, a Republican from Blue Ridge, said he would brief Gov. Brian Kemp on his plans later Thursday. A spokesperson for Kemp didn’t immediately respond as to whether the Republican governor favors any possible intervention.

Ralston said Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee Chairman J Collins, a Villa Rica Republican, would lead the effort. The speaker shared a copy of a letter he was sending to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

“I would ask that you cooperate with the committee’s proceedings,” Ralston wrote. “I know that we share a desire to see Atlanta remain a place that families and businesses wish to call home.”

A spokesperson for Bottoms didn’t immediately respond.

Ralston said committee proposals could in include having state troopers provide policing.

“We’ve got an outstanding Georgia State Patrol here in the state,” he said. “You know we may have to talk about resources, I mean, there’s any number of forms that this could take.”

Deadly shootings have risen since last summer, when an officer’s shooting of Rayshard Brooks in a restaurant parking lot contributed to weeks of protests over racial injustice.

At times, police appeared to stand down from intervening to stop armed people from blockading the area around the restaurant site, and an 8-year-old girl was fatally shot on July 4. At other times, police officers called in sick in apparent unhappiness over how Bottoms and other city leaders were responding.

The action comes months before Atlanta voters will decide whether Bottoms should get a second term. City Council President Felicia Moore has announced a challenge to Bottoms, and violence in the city is likely to be a key issue in the race. The prospect of intervention by the Republican-led state government is likely to be unpopular in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

The state has a history of trying to intervene in city affairs, often setting off bitter disputes. The state, for example, tried to take over Hartsfield Jackson International Airport before backing off. Lawmakers have also appointed a legislative committee to oversee the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, a transit agency funded by residents of Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties.