Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Issues Orders to Act Upon Use of Force Advisory Council’s 45-day Recommendations
Thursday, August 6th, 2020
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced seven Administrative Orders (AO) after receiving the Mayor’s Use of Force Advisory Council’s 45-day recommendations. The Advisory Council provided 33 recommendations spanning five areas of focus on policing practices: Mission, Vision, Values; Standard Operating Procedures; Governance; Community Partnerships; and Reporting and Transparency.
“The collective effort underway with the Atlanta Police Department (APD), our community and partners to reform our City’s use of force policies will continue to position the police department as a national model for modern policing,” said Mayor Bottoms. “Thank you to the members of the Use of Force Advisory Council for developing a roadmap that will help strengthen APD and build trust between law enforcement and our communities.”
The Bottoms Administration received feedback on the Advisory Council’s recommendations from an internal APD working group comprised of professionals across various ranks and zones, and from more than 4,000 Atlantans.
The Mayor’s seven Administrative Orders address 16 of the 33 recommendations outlined in the report. Details of the Orders are as follows:
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The first Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to work with APD to develop a plan for officer training and non-retaliation language regarding an officer’s duty to intervene when seeing another officer using unreasonable force.
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The second Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to work with APD to engage with the Atlanta Citizen Review Board (ACRB) to: 1) develop an internal memorandum of understanding / standard operating procedures that outline a clear process to constantly and effectively coordinate investigatory data exchange and communication of disciplinary action, 2) evaluate potential actions APD could take to collaborate with ACRB to improve community awareness.
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The third Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to work with the City Attorney to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that memorializes the commitment of the City of Atlanta with the Atlanta/Fulton County Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative (PAD) and outlines a multi-year partnership to continue the work of the program.
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The fourth Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to work with APD to compile public reports into a single public-facing platform for public transparency and to develop a dashboard that shows APD’s use of force trends.
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The fifth Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to collaborate with APD and coordinate with the ACRB to develop recommendations regarding:
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How conflicts between APD and ARB disciplinary recommendations may be resolved;
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Providing notice to ACRB of any changes to certain APD SOPs related to use of force within 30 days;
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Expanding the ACRB mediation program.
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The sixth Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer and APD to partner with Atlanta/Fulton County Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative (PAD) to develop a training rollout plan aligned to the PAD expansion across all Atlanta zones
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The seventh Administrative Order directs the Chief Operating Officer to include the following in the top to bottom review of Atlanta policing:
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A plan to solicit community input on reimagining the vision, mission and core values of the APD;
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The creation of de-escalation requirements, outlining specific examples/tactics & creating a requirement to consider vulnerable populations when deciding to use force;
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Recommendations on how to revise officer evaluation systems to incentivize eligible diversions and de-incentivize certain arrests;
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A plan to work with APD, City of Atlanta, alternative response organizations, and other key stakeholders to develop an alternative response continuum.
A complete list of the Advisory Council’s 33 recommendations included in the final 45-day report is attached.
The full Advisory Council report can be found at this link. The Use of Force Advisory Council consists of 27 members of the Atlanta community and held its first meeting on June 10, 2020.
The 33 recommendations—in addition to the 14-day recommendations—provide a community-based perspective and a set of potential actions that can undergird APD’s commitment to the implementation of best practices on how police practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.
Information and actions by the Advisory Council can be reviewed here. Questions or comments regarding the Advisory Council can be submitted to: [email protected].