The Atlanta Police Department ( APD ) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta , Georgia , U.S .
31-521: 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. 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
62-492: 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
93-592: A coalition of activist groups opposed to the construction project announced their plans to force a referendum on Cop City. The referendum was inspired by a similar successful effort in Camden County, GA. The Georgia constitution allows residents to force a referendum on decisions by local governments if they can get 15% of registered voters to sign petition; in Atlanta, 60,000 to 70,000 signatures would be required. The referendum against Cop City would cancel
124-857: 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). 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. 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—his home and that of his deceased father had been looted and burnt by criminals who stole almost all his personal and business possessions. APD officers claimed Sturdivant pointed his rifle at
155-634: A member of the Stop Cop City movement, was fatally shot by Atlanta police . Following the shooting, law enforcement accused Terán of firing at officers; however, this is disputed by Terán's family. Protesters affiliated with the Stop Cop City movement were arrested in late 2022 and early 2023 and charged with domestic terrorism offenses. The $ 90 million construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center began in spring 2023 on an 85-acre plot of land in
186-499: A rural, Marshal / Deputy Marshal model in 1873. The current police chief is Darin Schierbaum . The city conducted a nationwide search for a permanent chief. Schierbaum succeeded former police chief Rodney N. Bryant . Bryant took the helm after former chief Erika Shields resigned following the killing of Rayshard Brooks . Bryant served as interim police chief until the city named him as chief in June of 2020. Chief Schierbaum joined
217-460: A vote providing $ 31 million for the Cop City project. At the time, the project had received $ 60 million of corporate funding and was several months delayed. On May 31, a SWAT team arrested three organizers of a bail fund that had supported protesters with bail and legal defense. Those arrested were charged with money laundering and charity fraud . That same month, developers finished clearing
248-524: 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
279-536: The South River Forest , DeKalb County , Georgia. The land is owned by the City of Atlanta. Once complete, the center is planned to be used as a training campus for police and fire services and is expected to open at the end of 2023. Planned facilities include classrooms, a burn building , a mock city (including apartments, a bar/nightclub, and a school), and a shooting range . 265 surrounding acres of
310-461: 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
341-467: 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. 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
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#1732772164618372-485: The Atlanta Police Department in 2002, was appointed interim chief in June 2022, and chief in October 2022. https://www.atlantapd.org/about-apd/office-of-the-chief/assistant-chief-of-police-darin-schierbaum Cop City The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center , commonly known as Cop City , is a police and fire department training campus under construction in the South River Forest area of DeKalb County near Atlanta , Georgia , United States. Much of
403-826: The Atlanta Police Foundation, said the site had been selected to house a training center, as it was deemed the only suitable location available to the city. Bottoms had previously endorsed the use of the site in spring of the same year. Pre-construction clearing of the site began in May 2022. Since 2021, the site has been the subject of numerous public gatherings and protests. Community events, including skill shares, guided hikes, and musical performances have been held. Five protesters were arrested in December 2022 and charged with domestic terrorism . In January 2023, 26-year-old protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán
434-664: 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
465-487: 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. 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
496-595: The Muscogee people were displaced, logging in the area removed much of the Oak-Hickory forest community. The Muscogee people harvested from the forest for human needs, including acorn flour for food and hickory wood for toolmaking. The site was initially purchased in 1863 by the City of Atlanta for use as a cemetery during the American Civil War , but it was never used for that purpose. In 1917,
527-583: The back. Brooks was taken to a local hospital, where he died after emergency surgery. 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 " and claim it will be used to practice urban warfare . 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,
558-479: 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. Highland Atlanta Chief of Police There have been many police chiefs of the Atlanta Police Department in the history of Atlanta, Georgia United States. The city shifted from
589-473: The city’s lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation, which the city said isn't legal. In September 2023, organizers submitted 116,000 signatures for the referendum, but the City Council refused to count them, and said the activists had missed the deadline to turn in the signatures. That deadline had been extended by US District Judge Mark Cohen , but the city's appeal of that decision is being considered by
620-420: The department has never reached this level and continues to operate at a significant deficit. 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 : Breakdown of the makeup of the rank and file of APD as of 2013: A federal investigation
651-548: The federal government purchased the land to be used as a prisoner-of-war camp , and it was used as the Atlanta Prison Farm from 1920 until 1995. After it was vacated, the building was used to illegally dump tires, and was damaged by serious fires in 2009 and 2017. Terracon Consultants are the acting consultants to Atlanta Police Foundation , the project client. In September 2021, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms , accompanied by Dave Wilkinson, CEO of
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#1732772164618682-482: The land included in the plans was formerly part of the Old Atlanta Prison Farm , which was abandoned in 1995. In 2021, the location was identified by the City of Atlanta as the only suitable location to build the training center. This resulted in the development of Stop Cop City , a multi-faceted movement opposing the construction of the training center. In January 2023, Manuel Esteban Paez Terán ,
713-403: The nearby South River Music Festival and detained 35 people, alleging that vandals had hidden in the crowd. Twenty-three people were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism, although arrest warrants did not present evidence of violence or property damage. Of the arrestees, one was from France, one was from Canada, and two were residents of the state of Georgia. Only one of the 23 arrestees
744-540: 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. 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
775-574: The site are planned to be used as green-space . The Muscogee peoples lived in the area of the South River Forest until the 1830s, when the United States federal government forcibly removed most of the community to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ) during the Trail of Tears . The name for this land in the Muscogee language was "Weelaunee," translatable as "brown water [place]." After
806-483: The site of all existing vegetation and debris in preparation for construction. On June 6, 2023, the Atlanta City Council approved the $ 31 million funding after more than 16 hours of in-person public comment from over 300 speakers, the vast majority of whom were opposed to the project. More than 1,000 people signed up to speak, but hundreds of people were not admitted to the building. In June 2023,
837-399: The two college students were "innocent almost to the point of being naive". 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
868-542: 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 . On July 8, 2011, it
899-484: Was fatally shot by police. According to a lawyer working on behalf of Terán's mother, an independent autopsy revealed "Both Manuel's left and right hands show exit wounds in both palms. The autopsy further reveals that Manuel was most probably in a seated position, cross-legged when killed." On March 5, 2023, protesters threw large rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails , and fireworks at police officers, and destroyed various construction vehicles. Hours later, police raided
930-525: Was offered bond: a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center , who had only been there for observation and because of this was freed on a $ 5,000 bond. By May, prosecutors had charged more than 40 protesters with domestic terrorism, a move that Human Rights Watch called an "attempt to smear protesters as national security threats". At a May 2023 public meeting, Atlanta City Council members faced record-setting public opposition to
961-706: 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