There were four notable things to take from Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington’s press conference today about the Sept. 10 raid at Atlanta Eagle:
Which begs the following questions:
The Libertarian Party of Atlanta (!) is calling for Mayor Shirley Franklin to publicly apologize and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington to resign over the APD’s Thursday night raid on popular gay bar The Eagle. The chapter says the APD “acted in a manner that would have been common in a different age” during the controversial bust and should “[use] their officers to protect the citizens of Atlanta, not [raid] a private club containing a group of consenting adults.”
From a Libertarian Party press release:
THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF ATLANTA DECRIES THE ACTIONS OF THE ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT RAIDING THE EAGLE.
ATLANTA – The Libertarian Party of Atlanta is deeply disturbed by the actions of the Atlanta Police Department (APD) when they raided popular Atlanta gay bar, The Eagle on September 10th. . In June 2009 according to statistics published by the APD, 331 crimes against persons were committed and there were 3,379 crimes against a property reported. The APD should be using their officers to protect the citizens of Atlanta, not raiding a private club containing a group of consenting adults.
The government has no right to determine what is a permissible activity within a private space between consenting adults. The Atlanta Police acted in a manner that would have been common in a different age. The Libertarian Party of Atlanta believes that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, preference or gender identity, deserve to be treated respectfully by the government and its agents.
It is to this end that we call for a public apology from Mayor Franklin and the resignation of Chief Pennington for this egregious abuse of government power and the rights of individuals.
After a July 25th weekend marked by the carjacking of a City Councilman, the killing of a pro boxer and the shooting of an Edgewood resident, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington was once again criticized for his noticeable absence.
“At this particular time, I do not know.”
— An Atlanta Police Department spokesman tells CBS Atlanta on July 29 he didn’t know the chief’s whereabouts.
“I was surprised to watch a recent press conference regarding crimes near the [Georgia Tech] and see the Atlanta Police Department represented by a lieutenant and a sergeant. Where was the chief? Leadership matters, and he hasn’t mattered. His absence has been an issue.”
— Former Atlanta Deputy Chief Lou Arcangeli in a July 30 AJC article.
““I want the critics to know that I have not ‘checked out.’”
— Pennington, who says he was at a mandatory training conference in Virginia during the crimes, at a July 30 press conference.
Mayor Franklin at yesterday's press conference.
Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington’s press conference yesterday was a long and quizzical event filled mostly with testy questions about the chief’s recent whereabouts.
But in addition to those questions about Atlanta’s Houdini, the mayor said she wanted to talk about “solutions” and the city’s strategy to improve its piss-poor public safety. That strategy involves more cops on the street, a crackdown on gang activity, and an engaged community.
In the interest of public engagement and transparency, we’ve decided to post Franklin’s statement in full.
After the jump, what Franklin’s administration plans to do in her remaining months in office to prevent the killings, carjackings, burglaries and other ills.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Who knew train wrecks could happen indoors?
Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington today faced heated questions from reporters on how the city plans to address residents’ growing concerns about public safety.
The focus this morning was on Pennington, who spoke only briefly and appeared downtrodden throughout the press conference. The chief’s been criticized for maintaining a low profile, especially after a recent spurt of crimes in the city that included the killing of a pro boxer, the carjacking of a councilman, and the shooting of a man walking into his girlfriend’s house with groceries. Today was the first anyone’s heard from him on the recent rash of crimes. (He said he was attending mandatory “police leadership training” in Virginia over the weekend.)
Reporters asked the chief — who will be looking for a new job once the mayor’s term ends in January — if he has the wherewithal to address the crime issue.
“I have not ‘checked out,’” Pennington said. “I will continue to work hard until [Franklin] leaves.”
Franklin — who got testy with the press many times throughout the conference — voiced unwavering support for Pennington, whom she said has helped “reform” the Atlanta department and the New Orleans Police Department, where he formerly worked.
“I’m proud of his leadership,” she said. “I’m proud of his integrity.”
She added, however, that one crime is “one crime too many” — and that the city could do more.
Thanks to some Obamabucks from Washington, D.C., Atlanta residents could see more police officers patrolling the streets — possibly this fall.
Vice President Joe Biden today announced $1 billion in economic stimulus funds to hire 4,700 police officers in cities across the country. The funds will be administered through the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program.
Atlanta’s set to receive $11.2 million of that loot — enough to hire 50 police officers. (You can view a PDF of Atlanta’s award letter here.)
That’s a far cry from the 200 officers Mayor Shirley Franklin had hoped for earlier this year. But after a weekend of high-profile shootings, killings and carjackings, it’s good news for a city that looks safer on paper than it feels on the streets.
In a statement about the funding, Atlanta Deputy Chief George Turner said:
…the goal is to have a recruit class this fall with the 50 new recruits. Once the officers are trained they will be dispatched into the community. The police department is proud and happy to add 50 new officers to the force, said Chief Turner. All the positions awarded under the grant must be used to initiate or enhance community policing in the City of Atlanta.
There’s a catch, however.
The police chief spoke out today to reassure a frightened public after a high-profile crime.
Not Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington.
Don’t be ridiculous.
He would never do something as leadership-ish as that.
I’m talking about Decatur police Chief J.M. Booker.
A carjacking in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood shortly before noon today has city residents on edge.
Chief Booker signed-in at Decatur Metro this afternoon to tell readers he recognizes how unsettling today’s incident was.
Atlantans take note: Decatur’s police chief managed to get through his entire letter without once mocking his fellow Decaturites. He didn’t tell Decaturites their fears are based on the mere perception of crime, nor did he brag about how awesome Decatur is.
He didn’t even mention baseball!
He said today’s carjacking troubled him a great deal and that he and his department are busting their collective backside to catch the people responsible.
An actual, sincere expression of concern about crime, without a hint of smug defiance or phony indignation. How about that?
You should try it sometime, Shirley and Richard.
And not just when celebrities get killed either.
The AJC reports one of the two suspects arrested after yesterday’s shoot-out with police at Clark Atlanta University escaped shortly after being taken into custody.
I would tell you his name, give you a description, or post a photo, but the APD hasn’t made any of that information available. The department’s media advisory web page hasn’t been updated in more than a month.
UPDATE 5: WSB reports the escaped suspect was caught today on Magnolia Way in Northwest Atlanta; Magnolia Way is only five blocks from Clark Atlanta University’s campus.
UPDATE 4: WSB reports the suspect escaped police headquarters YESTERDAY. I corrected the description above to reflect that.
So the guy escapes yesterday and police wait at least 14 hours to tell the public? And still no photo or name?
UPDATE 3: Atlanta Police has a Twitter account. It contains no information about the escaped suspect. In fact, the page is completely blank.
UPDATE 2: WSB has video footage of the escape, but still no name or mug shot.
UPDATE: Atlanta police say the escaped suspect is wearing a red t-shirt and jeans with a large rip on the left leg. Why police aren’t sharing the suspect’s name or circulating a photograph is a mystery.
Everyone wants to know! Quel scandale!
We hope our fellow freedom-loving friends across the Atlantic will be enchanted by the depiction of our grand city. Crime, bum bots, and hella guns. Creative Loafing also plays a role. “Jay-sohn,” the civilian patroller interviewed in the report, is CL’s senior art director. Hat tip to SpaceyG for finding the video.
The Atlanta City Council has decided that Police Chief Richard Pennington must comply with an oversight committee’s request to release documents related to the police shootings of Kathryn Johnston and Pierre George.
According to an Atlanta City Council spokesman, the Committee on Council:
Issued a subpoena at the request of the Citizen Review Board to compel Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington to produce requested documents as well as the criminal investigation file regarding the police shooting of Kathryn Johnston.
Issued a subpoena at the request of the Citizen Review Board to compel Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington to produce requested documents as well as the criminal investigation file regarding the police shooting of Pierre George.
UPDATED: Cristina Beamud, executive director of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, tells CL:
“On behalf of the board, we’re very pleased. And we thank the Committee on Council and, most importantly, Chair Felicia Moore for her support on this issue. The public still has a lot of questions about what went wrong, and what we can do to make sure [what happened], or something similar, doesn’t happen again. And we don’t think there have been enough answers if people are still asking those questions…It’s very difficult to give constructive criticism unless you know what caused it and how it can be prevented.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2008 crime statistics, released on Monday, add weight to the argument that, contrary to what some folks in City Hall might’ve said in the past, Atlanta’s crime concerns aren’t about perception but about people actually entering your car or home and taking your possessions.
Although the bureau’s stats show violent crimes in Atlanta decreased 8.3 percent compared to 2007 (that’s good!), property crimes such as burglaries, thefts and larceny jumped 7.6 percent (that’s bad!). That’s quite a leap in just a year and a stark contrast to the 1.6 percent decrease in property crimes enjoyed by the rest of the country.
Real Clear Politics crunched the bureau’s statistics and concluded Atlanta had a 16 percent per capita crime rate, thus earning it the distinction of being the second least safe city in the United States. Memphis, Tenn., earned top honors. San Antonio, Texas, Detroit and Milwaukee rounded out the bottom five.
Celebrate our dubious honor by locking up your flat screens, supporting your local patrolman, and keeping valuables in your car out of sight.
(H/T to Sara for noting the RCP article)
Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s unexpected exit from the District 6 race yesterday took nearly everyone in the politically active and tight-knit neighborhoods she serves by surprise.
In a Tuesday interview with CL, Fauver said the decision, which she’s wrestled with for the last two months, largely came down to two things: frustration with city politics and the desire to try something new.
“[Atlanta] once had a strong council and a weak mayor,” Fauver said. “That’s been reversed. That can be very frustrating because council is supposed to determine policy…As of now, we don’t.”
Fauver added that it’s difficult to juggle a career and serve in City Hall. The job of a councilmember, which pays $39,000 a year and is supposed to be a part-time gig, is more like a round-the-clock position.
“It’s four years,” she said, referring to another term. “Four years on top of eight years is a little bit longer than I want to do it. I’m frankly looking forward to a new challenge and I don’t know what that will be.”
Richard Pennington
UPDATE: Pennington says he hasn’t been contacted for the position. The White House declines to comment. We clasp our hands and pray Atlanta’s favorite soul patch — he’s after the jump below — is not named the next DEA chief.
CBS Atlanta reports that Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington is being eyed to head the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Or maybe not?
A [APD] spokesperson says the department has not been informed of this information and they could not comment.
[CBS Atlanta reporter Joanna Massee] e-mailed Mayor Shirley Franklin to see if she was aware Pennington was being considered for a position at the DEA. A spokesperson for the mayor said, “While Mayor Franklin is unaware of the opportunity in your email she thinks, ‘Chief Pennington is a terrific and highly effective law enforcement official and who has served Atlanta with distinction.’”
Pennington sent an email to CBS Atlanta and it said, “I have no knowledge that I’m being considered for any federal law enforcement position. Furthermore, I have not been contacted by anyone in Washington.”
New Orleans media outlets are abuzz about the rumor. Pennington was the city’s former police superintendent before heading to Atlanta. Eager to put a stop to all the madness, CL contacted its fictitious high-level sources at the federal agency. Turns out there’s been some confusion.
Did anyone else catch the AJC’s astonishing Q&A with Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington yesterday?
Mayor Franklin and Police Chief Richard Pennington at a 2007 public meeting to discuss crime.
If so, you would you know Pennington doesn’t think there’s a problem with crime in Atlanta. He thinks there’s a problem with the PERCEPTION of crime in Atlanta.
Q: What do you attribute [the public outcry] to?
A: These community groups work closely together. When they hear about one crime, they e-mail their neighbors and then you get a barrage of e-mails. I think they just respond to what they hear. And a lot of times, perception to them is reality.
Did you catch that Atlanta? Stop e-mailing your friends and neighbors about crime and everything will be fine. The murders of Adair Freeman and John Henderson can’t scare you if you don’t know about them.
Atlantans Together Against Crime and Cutbacks is rallying in Little Five Points from 5 to 7 p.m. tonight. The group was founded hours after Henderson was gunned down at the Standard.
I was planning to attend, but now that Pennington’s explained to me that the real problem is my attitude, I may just stay home and watch Ellen.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Atlanta’s “Crime Stoppers” program is offering a $5,000 reward for info that leads to the identification of the four gunman responsible for the murder of John Henderson. Henderson was gunned down execution style early Wednesday inside the Standard Food & Spirits on Memorial Drive in north Grant Park.
The gunman had thrown a brick through the front door and ordered Henderson and a female bartender into the Standard’s office. After handing over money to the gunman, Henderson was shot four times — for no apparent reason. The woman, who slipped away to hide in a cabinet, was not harmed.
According to a Crime Stoppers press release:
Due to the heinous nature of the crime, the reward pool is being increased. In most cases the maximum reward amount is $2,000.
“Whenever there is a heinous crime of this nature, citizens naturally want to do their part to help,” says Dave Wilkinson, CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation. “Crime Stoppers allows them to have a voice. Citizens can either phone in information anonymously or donate to the reward pool.”
Chief Richard Pennington is asking for the public’s help. “We are following all possible leads at this time, but believe there are citizens out there that can help us identify these suspects. By calling Crime Stoppers citizens can get that information to us without fear of reprisal”, stated Pennington.
If you are interested in donating to the reward pool, go to www.atlantapolicefoundation.org or www.crimestoppersatlanta.org. To give a tip, call 404-577-TIPS(8477) or log onto www.crimestoppersatlanta.org.
RATTLED: Little Five Points resident Kyle Keyser says his Dec. 17 mugging reflects how brazen Atlanta crime has become.
On Dec. 17, local video producer and blogger Kyle Keyser stopped at the Pizza Hut on North Avenue to pick up a late dinner for his roommate’s boss. Five men stood outside the pizza joint. One asked Keyser if he’d buy him some food. Keyser, sympathetic to the man’s hunger, said sure.
But the restaurant was closed, and as Keyser returned to his car, the five men surrounded him and pushed him against a nearby vehicle. One shoved a gun to his neck. They demanded money. Keyser said he didn’t have any but handed over his ATM card.
The men took Keyser’s cell phone and wallet and ordered him to lie on the ground. One suspect, pistol in hand, took aim.
“I’m gonna shoot him,” Keyser recalls the suspect saying. “I’m gonna shoot this motherfucker.”
“Don’t shoot him,” pleaded the guy who Keyser had offered to buy food.
“Naw,” the gunman said, “I’m gonna shoot him in the leg.”
Keyser, face down on the pavement, braced himself for a bullet. Instead, he saw five pairs of sneakers walk off. He sensed he had an exit, jumped in his car, and sped toward Midtown to call the police. He says bank receipts show the suspects purchased food with his card at a gas station a block away.
“OK, people get mugged and asked for money,” says Keyser, whose house has been broken into twice. “There’s a certain amount of crime that you associate with living in the city. It’s not forgivable, but it’s understood. You know it’s going to happen. What concerns me now is the spike in violent crime.”
Read the rest of this story.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Now that the FBI has concluded its investigation into the death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston at the hands of two Atlanta cops, the police department has formed a task force to conduct its own internal probe of Johnston’s killing.
Here’s what Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said (in a press release) about the creation of the task force:
Following the November 21, 2006 death of Ms. Kathryn Johnston at 933 Neal Street, I asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to commence an independent investigation into Ms. Johnston’s death. The scope of the FBI investigation included allegations of criminal acts as well as other misconduct. I would like to thank the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for their help and assistance in conducting this investigation regarding criminal misconduct. …
The Atlanta Police Department should be given an opportunity to review the actions of its own employees for the purpose of determining whether administrative charges are appropriate. If it is deemed appropriate, adminstrative action will be taken against officers as warranted.
My question is, where does the city’s newly created Citizen Review Board — a board that came into existence as a result of the Johnston killing — fit into all this?
At least one Atlanta cop does not appreciate Police Chief Richard Pennington’s request for on-duty motorcycle officers to escort his Corvette club around town, AJC.com reports.
If the allegation — which was described in an ethics complaint filed against Pennington — is true, it’s a pretty brazen move for a chief who already has an uneasy relationship with his ranks.
According to the AJC story, a probe of the allegation has begun and Pennington declined comment on the open investigation. The story goes on to say:
The officer who filed the complaint did so anonymously out of fear of retribution, said police Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of an Atlanta police union. …
Kreher said the club’s members came to Atlanta for its week-long annual convention and stayed at a hotel south of the city, near the airport.
On July 12, Pennington had a handful of officers escort the club members, driving their Corvettes, from the hotel to Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead, Kreher said.
Pennington was with the group, was not on duty and was driving his Corvette, Kreher said, adding that the escort required about two hours of the officers’ time.
Mayor Shirley Franklin was joined by Police Chief Richard Pennington, Councilwoman-turned-Homeless Czar Debi Starnes and a cast of dozens Wednesday to kick off the city’s latest effort to put a stop to rampant downtown panhandling.
Right away, this program seems to benefit from greater support from and coordination with the business community. And its clever slogan, “Give change that makes sense,” is sure to appeal to visitors and residents already reluctant to hand their coinage over to aggressive beggars.
Part of the initiative is a citywide marketing campaign whose goal is to get people to quit giving money to folks who accost them for spare change. There’s even a new website, stoppanhandlingatlanta.com, that directs the generous among us to instead give donations to local social service agencies via the United Way’s Regional Commission on Homelessness.
Starnes put it succinctly: “We want people to understand the difference between the homeless and hustlers.”
The FBI’s annual compendium of national crime stats shows a decrease in every major category of crime nationwide.
Atlanta, on the other hand, registered an overall increase in crime of 11 percent, driven by double-digit increases in the number of robberies, burglaries, auto thefts and murders.
Neither the mayor’s office nor Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington’s office were willing to comment, but APD Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of Atlanta’s police union, blames part of the increase on sagging morale among the rank-and-file. It’s the result, Kreher says, of the city’s failure to adequately fund the department as well as what he describes as Pennington’s absentee leadership. Kreher says he hopes the mayor will replace Pennington with someone else from within the department.
City Council President Lisa Borders — who is also a candidate for mayor — calls the increase in crime “unacceptable” and says it must be addressed by city leaders immediately. “At this pace, increased crime threatens to reverse many, if not all of the gains the city has made over the past decade,” she says.
(Chart by Erin Washburn)
(NOTE: The print edition of Creative Loafing includes a mislabeled version of the chart shown above. I apologize for the error.)
Good news for burglar alarm and pepper spray salesmen. Bad news for the rest of us.
Crime was up 11% city wide in 2007, according to statistics recently posted on the Atlanta Police Department web site.
Last year there were 129 homicides in Atlanta, up from 110 in 2006 and just 89 in 2005. The biggest increases were in robberies, up 21%, and burglaries, up 20%.
Each of the city’s six police zones experienced overall crime increases with Zone 1 (west Atlanta), Zone 4 (southwest Atlanta) and Zone 6 (east Atlanta), experiencing the highest increases.
At-large council member Ceasar Mitchell says, outside of worries about the economy, increased crime is the issue he hears about most often from constituents.
Both Mitchell and at-large council member Mary Norwood blame police recruitment and retention problems for part of the increase, as well as the de-activation of the city’s narcotics squad for much of 2007 – a move that followed the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a botched November 2006 drug raid. However, both stop short of criticizing Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington or his leadership.
District 12 Council Member Joyce Sheperd, who represents several Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods in the Zone 4 police district, is more direct.
“He’s not a community-oriented police chief. He’s more of a stats man,” Sheperd says.
“Even though we may not be happy with him, trying to look at someone else at this point is not practical,” she says, blaming the city’s budget crisis and what she calls the city’s “strong-mayor/weak-council” structure, which means that any replacement might not survive in the post past the end of Mayor Franklin’s term in January 2010.
“Who could we get to come to Atlanta at this point?” Sheperd asks.
Charles Pippin, a resident of Southwest Atlanta’s Capitol View neighborhood (in Sheperd’s district), complains the city’s failure to increase the force size has left his neighborhood under-patrolled. Pippin and a group of neighbors formed a group called Capitol View Security Alliance last year. With membership dues, the group pays off-duty Atlanta police officers to patrol the neighborhood’s streets.
“Why can’t the city hire more officers?†Pippin says. “They’ll say it’s money, but if you get people feeling secure about these neighborhoods, more people will move in and your tax base will increase.â€
Neither the mayor’s office nor the police department were available for comment.
If you’re wondering why Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington wasn’t standing next to Mayor Shirley Franklin and Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran at Saturday’s post-tornado city news conference, it’s because he’s on vacation.
According to APD’s public affairs office, Pennington is out of the country and will not be cutting his vacation short to lead the department’s post-tornado operations.
You may recall, Pennington was also out of town when Atlanta Police shot, killed, and attempted to cover-up the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a botched 2006 drug raid.
At the time, Pennington said he was unable to book a flight back to Atlanta on any of the at least 58 non-stop daily flights from New York.
Question: If it’s not actually necessary to have a police chief on-duty during times of crisis, why does the city pay him?
From Sunday’s AJC:
Police target drug-infested areas in crime sweep
Don’t they do that every day? I was under the impression it was their job.
I don’t know. Maybe they don’t do it every day. Maybe focused efforts on crime-ridden areas are so infrequent that they’re newsworthy.
If that’s the case, shouldn’t the infrequency be the news?
A story like, “Police rarely concentrate on crime-infested areas” or “Police leave drug-infested areas alone, except during PR campaigns.”
MAYOR FRANKLIN AND CHIEF PENNINGTON AT PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING SATURDAY: “Omigod, ‘Reno 911!’ last night was a trip!â€
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
It was supposed to be Mayor Shirley Franklin’s launch of a high-spirited public relations campaign on behalf of her under-fire police chief, Richard Pennington. But Saturday’s community forum at the Georgia Power HQ auditorium was decidedly ho-hum.
Citizens wanted to know why some police districts were huge and under-staffed; others wanted to know why cops from their district were temporarily assigned to the overly large districts. The mayor and chief offered no insights as to why a crime wave is sweeping the city, and Pennington shouldered no responsibility for the department’s management and morale problems.
Franklin said it was hard to recruit officers, and touted four years of raises she’s given to cops. Police union leader Scott Kreher said after the meeting that until this year those were only cost of living increases, and that officers’ “step increases†– the way police financially advance during their careers — have been frozen. However, the city in June did give the cops a 3.5 percent increase plus a 2 percent cost of living raise. Even Kreher in a note to his officers conceded this was one of the biggest increases in recent history.
I closed out a June 27 cover story on the problems facing Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington by predicting (based on City Hall sources) that Mayor Shirley Franklin would ramp up a public relations campaign in August for the top cop. The mayor’s spokesman refused to say “yes” or “no” to my questions about the campaign. I turned out to be on target. Franklin and Pennington are kicking off an image-polishing campaign with a town hall meeting Aug. 11 at 8:30 a.m. at the Georgia Power corporate HQ auditorium, 241 Ralph McGill Boulevard.
The mayor has steadfastly defended Pennington amid disclosures of sinking morale among the police, charges of cronyism and favoritism — and, following the Nov. 21 killing of a 92-year-old woman by detectives, allegations by the U.S. attorney’s office that a “culture of misconduct” exists in the APD. Franklin has based her support of Pennington on crime statistics that trended downward during the first years of her tenure. Now, however, the number of crimes are heading up, and many citizens feel we’re in the midst of a crime wave.
