Closer Look: DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond; Local Advocates Propose Redeveloping ATL City Jail to Community Wellness Center

Tuesday on “Closer Look with Rose Scott”:

• 0:00: The Atlanta field office of the FBI has released the results of an 11-day effort they say was to combat human trafficking during Super Bowl LIII. According to the FBI, multiple organizations led by the Violent Crimes Against Children/Human Trafficking Program and Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation (MATCH) Task Force worked in coordination with state and local agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations. Rose gives a news brief on how these efforts led to the rescue of over a dozen trafficking victims and the arrests of 26 traffickers and 34 individuals attempting to engage in sex acts with minors.
• 3:00: Our county by county series continues with DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. CEO Thurmond will share his outlook for 2019, and his stance on issues ranging from public safety to economic development.
• 26:18: Later this spring, a new community space will open on the Westside — The YMCA’s Leadership and Learning Center. Closer Look recently took a behind-the-scenes tour of the site where leaders of the YMCA say they will focus on educating Atlanta’s youth, training YMCA employees and serving the needs of the surrounding community.
• 37:38: In 2018 Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an executive order to end the Atlanta City Detention Center’s (ACDC) contract with ICE; no longer allowing the center to take in ICE detainees. Following that order, Mayor Bottoms proposed the sale of the facility, which costs the city about $32 million each year in operating fees. Some advocates say they would like to see the space become a community wellness center — we hear from Xochitl Bervera, Director of the Racial Justice Action Center, and Marilynn Winn, Director of Women on the Rise.

Closer Look is produced by Candace Wheeler and Grace Walker. Anastaciah Ondieki contributed to this article.