Atlanta Police Department | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | APD |
Motto | Resurgens Rising Again |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1873 |
Annual budget | $204,754,624 (2020) |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
Jurisdiction of the Atlanta Police Department | |
Size | 136.76 square miles (354.2 km2) (total) (land) |
Population | 506,811 (2019) [1] |
Legal jurisdiction | City of Atlanta |
Operational structure | |
Police Officers | 1,447 |
Corrections personnel and Civilian members | 223 |
Mayor of Atlanta responsible | |
Agency executive |
|
Facilities | |
Zones | 7
|
Jails | 3 |
Website | |
www |
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, the department was formed with 26 officers. Thomas Jones was elected the first Atlanta Chief of Police by the city council. The agency is located at: 226 Peachtree St SW, Atlanta, Ga. 30303. [2]
The 1,400+ officer force is currently being led by Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. The city has an authorized strength of 2,000 certified officers, however the department has never reached this level and continues to operate at a significant deficit.
Title | Insignia | Shirt Color | Badge Color | Information |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chief of Police | White | Gold | The Chief of Police is Commander of the APD. | |
Assistant Chief | White | Gold | The Assistant Chief is Second-in-command of the APD. | |
Deputy Chief | White | Gold | Deputy Chiefs are in charge of a Division . | |
Major | White | Gold | Majors are in charge of a Section or Zone. | |
Captain | White | Gold | Captains are Second-in-command of a Section or Zone. | |
Lieutenant | Dark Blue | Gold | Lieutenants are in charge of a Unit . | |
Sergeant | Dark Blue | Gold | Sergeants are Supervisors. | |
Investigator | No Insignia | Dark Blue | Silver | |
Senior Police Officer | No Insignia | Dark Blue | Silver | |
Police Officer | No Insignia | Dark Blue | Silver |
The Atlanta Police Department works with the City of Atlanta Corrections Department, which operates three jails, all of which also handle overflow from time to time from the large jail on Rice street, operated by Fulton County:
Jail | Type of inmate |
---|---|
City Detention Center | Pretrial arrestees, sentenced ordinance and traffic offenders and custody of federal prisoners awaiting trial pursuant to a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service |
Grady Detention Center | Custodial services patients at the general hospital (Grady Memorial Hospital) |
Court Detention Center | Prisoner movements for judicial proceedings in the Municipal Court |
Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of APD as of 2013: [3]
A federal investigation was conducted into the Atlanta Police Department's practices after the 2006 killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston, who shot at officers as they entered her home unannounced on a no-knock warrant. Prosecutors alleged that the officers falsified information and documents after the killing to justify the serving of the warrant. On April 26, 2007, two officers pleaded guilty to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation, and making false statements. One additionally pleaded guilty to perjury. [4]
On July 8, 2011, it was reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that six police officers were fired for lying about events concerning the Atlanta Eagle police raid (which targeted the Atlanta Eagle, a gay bar). In June 2011, a 343-page report was released that details how 16 officers lied or destroyed evidence when asked about the raid on the Eagle Bar. At least two of the officers in question had been cited for lying on another occasion in a federal drug case in October 2009 (the federal prosecutors informed the Atlanta Police Department that they would never be used again in a federal prosecution). [5]
On April 8, 2011, APD officers shot a 64-year-old U.S. Marine veteran who had fired several shots at the ground in front of a man who was stealing from him, which was a frequent occurrence. [6] He lost his kidney, and while he was eventually released from prison in early November after prosecutors finally dropped charges—after threatening him with 105 years in prison [6] —his home and that of his deceased father had been looted and burnt by criminals who stole almost all his personal and business possessions. [6] [7] APD officers claimed Sturdivant pointed his rifle at the officers, who never identified themselves, a point disputed by Sturdivant's public defender given that the one bullet of the 14 officers fired that actually hit him, traveled through the side of the rifle's stock. [6]
On May 30, 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Georgia, Atlanta police pulled two black students from their car, broke a car window, and used Tasers to shock them. This came after officers arrested a classmate of theirs whom they wanted to pick up; an officer ordered the students to continue driving, which they complied. One officer claimed that one of the students possessed a gun, but no gun was found. One of the students stated that he was punched over 10 times in the back after being arrested. Within days, six officers were charged as a result of the incident; two were fired, and four were put on administrative leave. The Fulton County District Attorney, Paul Howard, stated that the two college students were "innocent almost to the point of being naive". [8] [9] [10]
On June 12, 2020, APD officers were called to a Wendy's, where the suspect, Rayshard Brooks, was sleeping inside of a car with its engine on in the drive-thru lane of the establishment. Officers conducted a field-sobriety test on Brooks, which he failed, leading officers to attempt to put him in custody. According to the GBI, Brooks resisted and got into a physical struggle with an officer, which led to Brooks grabbing a taser from the officer. Once Brooks got a hold of the taser, he began to flee. Surveillance footage shows Brooks fleeing about seven parking spaces in the parking lot. Brooks then turned around and fired the taser at the officer chasing him. That led to the officer retrieving and discharging his service weapon, firing three times at Brooks, striking him two times in the back. Brooks was taken to a local hospital, where he died after emergency surgery. [11]
On January 18, 2023, Atlanta police officers shot and killed Manuel Teran, who was protesting the deforestation of 300 acres of public park in Atlanta to build a $90-million police training facility; critics have called the project "Cop City", they claim it will be used to practice urban warfare. [12]
Vehicles: Ford Police Interceptor equipped with state-of-the-art Whelen LED Lighting packages and digital control consoles along with Panasonic Toughbook Mobile Data Terminals. In fall 2013, the Atlanta Police Department began phasing new Ford Taurus Police interceptors into its fleet to replace the old Crown Victoria interceptors. The entire fleet totals around 300 vehicles and the remaining Crown Victoria interceptors will be phased out as they lose usefulness. [13]
Communications: Motorola Digital 800 MHz Trunking system that is one of the largest in the country and utilizes 24 channels. This system provides voice and data communications for the Atlanta Police, Fire, Watershed, Corrections and other Municipal Departments. The Atlanta Police Radio System also provides voice and data communications for the Georgia State Patrol inside of the Atlanta Metropolitan area and the City of Hapeville, The City of East Point, and the City of College Park.
Weapons: The department has transitioned to a 9mm handgun, the Glock 17 Gen 4, phasing out the .40 S&W Glock 22. The reason for this was modern 9x19mm bullet effectiveness and the fact 9mm puts less wear on the gun's components due to lower pressures compared to .40 S&W. The APD has standardized Winchester PDX1 147 grain 9mm ammunition.
The APD also trains and issues the AR-15 to many of its patrol officers to aid in tactical situations where a pistol and shotgun are out matched.
In the City of Atlanta, there are six "patrol zones" (more commonly known as just "zones") which lie under the jurisdiction of the Field Operations Division of the Atlanta Police Department. [14] [15]
Zone 1 covers the city's northwest side, west of Downtown Atlanta and north of I-20. Zone 2 covers all of the city's northern area. The Zone 3 area is located on the south/southeast and parts of southwest side of the city. The Zone 4 area is located on the southwest side of Atlanta. Zone 5 encompasses the central portion of APD's jurisdiction. Zone 6 includes all but the northernmost part of Atlanta's Eastside.
Daniel Rocha was an 18-year-old who was shot and killed in southeast Austin, Texas by police officer Julie Schroder, a seven-year veteran of the Austin Police Department, on June 9, 2005. The officer was responding to a report of drug trafficking when she pulled over a dark Chevrolet Suburban carrying Rocha and two others.
The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary municipal law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest municipal police department, serving the fourth-largest city in the United States. Its headquarters are at 1200 Travis in Downtown Houston.
Kathryn Johnston was an elderly woman from Atlanta, Georgia who was killed by undercover police officers in her home on Neal Street in northwest Atlanta on November 21, 2006, where she had lived for 17 years. Three officers had entered her home in what was later described as a 'botched' drug raid. Officers cut off burglar bars and broke down her door using a no-knock warrant. Police said Johnston fired at them and they fired in response; she fired one shot out the door over the officers' heads and they fired 39 shots, five or six of which hit her. None of the officers were injured by her gunfire, but Johnston was killed by the officers. Police injuries were later attributed to friendly fire from each other's weapons.
The Anne Arundel County Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, serving a population of more than 564,195 per 2015 census estimates across 588 square miles (1,500 km2) of jurisdiction. The Department was created by an Act of the Maryland General Assembly in 1937, and originally consisted of a Chief of Police, three sergeants, and seventeen patrolmen.
The Cincinnati Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency of Cincinnati, Ohio. The department has 1,053 sworn officers and 119 non-sworn employees.
The Anchorage Police Department (APD) is the police department of the Municipality of Anchorage in Alaska. Functioning as a service area of the Municipality, its patrol area includes the core "Anchorage bowl", the Seward Highway corridor from Potter Creek south to McHugh Creek, and the Glenn Highway corridor north of the Anchorage bowl to the municipality's border with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, including the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak and Eklutna. Through a memorandum of understanding, APD also handles calls on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson which involve civilian suspects or victims. Serving Alaska's largest city, APD is also the only metropolitan agency and the largest municipal police force in Alaska.
The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) is the agency responsible for law enforcement within the city of Bakersfield, California, in the United States. It has over 590 officers and professional staff, covering an area of 151.2 square miles (392 km2) serving an urban population of more than 400,000. The current chief of the department, since April 2020, is Greg Terry. The department protects the city, split between two areas and six zones with two stations, the main department headquarters and the west side substation. The department administration is made up of the chief of department, two assistant chiefs, four captains and eleven lieutenants.
The Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) is the governmental agency responsible for law enforcement in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Karrie Howard is the Director of Public Safety and Dornat "Wayne" Drummond is Chief of Police.
The Raleigh Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency of Raleigh, North Carolina.
James Matthew Boyd was an American man who was fatally shot by Albuquerque Police Department officers Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the evening of March 16, 2014. A resident of a nearby subdivision called police at 3:28 p.m. to report that a man had been camping on the mountain behind his house for the previous month, a violation of local regulations. Two Open Space officers were the first to respond. They approached Boyd as he lay under a sheet of plastic; Boyd, mentally ill with a diagnosis of schizo-affective disorder, became irate, wanting to know why the "raid" was occurring. When an officer tried to pat him down, he produced two pocket knives, threatening the officers with them. The caller watched the confrontation from his second-story window and later testified that Boyd threatened the officers.
The Grand Rapids Police Department is a municipal police department within Grand Rapids in the state of Michigan, United States.
The Overland Park Police Department is a local police department in Kansas and is located in Johnson County, Kansas. The department was known as Mission Township Police Department prior to 1960.
On August 5, 2016, Jamarion Rashad Robinson, a 26-year-old African American man who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was shot 59 times and killed in a police raid in East Point, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The shooting occurred when at least 14 officers of a Southeast Regional Fugitive Taskforce from at least seven different agencies, led by U.S. Marshals, forcibly entered the apartment of Robinson's girlfriend to serve a warrant for his arrest. The officers were heavily armed, including with submachine guns. The warrant was being served on behalf of the Gwinnett County police and the Atlanta Police Department, and authorities said they had sought his arrest for attempted arson and aggravated assault of a police officer. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) stated that Robinson had been repeatedly ordered to put down a weapon and that officers who had been involved in the shooting reported Robinson fired at them three times.
A series of George Floyd protests took place in Georgia, United States, following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. 11 consecutive days of protests and rallies occurred in Atlanta through June 8, 2020. Through July 2020, protests occurred in twenty various cities and communities in the state.
On the night of June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African American man, was fatally shot by Atlanta Police Department (APD) officer Garrett Rolfe.
On August 7, 2020, Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis, an unarmed 60-year-old Black American carpenter, was fatally shot by white Georgia State Patrol officer Jacob Gordon Thompson, on a rural road in Screven County, Georgia. Thompson attempted to stop Lewis for driving a vehicle with a broken tail light. When Lewis failed to stop, Thompson performed a PIT maneuver to force Lewis's car into a ditch and shot Lewis once in the face. On August 14, Thompson was charged with felony murder.
The George Floyd protests in Atlanta were a series of protests occurring in Atlanta, the capital and largest city of Georgia, United States. The protests were part of the George Floyd protests and, more broadly, the 2020–2021 United States racial unrest, which began shortly after the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. On May 26, protesting occurred in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and, over the next several weeks, protests spread to cities throughout the United States and then internationally.
Stop Cop City (SCC), also known as Block Cop City & Defend the Atlanta Forest (DTF), is a decentralized movement in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, whose goal is to stop construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center by the Atlanta Police Foundation and the City of Atlanta. The proposed location for the facility is the Old Atlanta Prison Farm, and opponents of the facility are concerned about the growth of policing in the city—which has witnessed several protests against police violence following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the killing of Rayshard Brooks, both by police officers.
Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, was a Venezuelan environmental activist and eco-anarchist who was shot and killed by Georgia State Patrol Troopers, after a Georgia State Patrol Trooper was wounded during a raid of the Stop Cop City encampment on January 18, 2023.