Peoria Standard

City of Atlanta issued the following announcement on July 16.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a notice to the Atlanta City Council requesting the body to sustain her veto of Ordinance 20-O-1449. The purpose of the Mayor’s veto is to ensure that the City of Atlanta’s actions remain in compliance with the Georgia Constitution. Because 20-O-1449 is in the form of an ordinance rather than properly in the form of a resolution it is vulnerable to a constitutional challenge.

“As the City evaluates and implements use of force reform, we must do so in a deliberate manner devoid of constitutional controversy,” said Mayor Bottoms. “This Administration has taken a series of swift yet thoughtful actions to modernize our law enforcement policies and procedures. This veto is not against the spirit of the Ordinance, but rather a needed measure to prevent the City from taking actions that are already underway and enacting laws that are subject to unnecessary legal challenge.”

The Bottoms Administration is taking a wholistic approach to ensure that all necessary voices are engaged, including community residents, in the process underway to reform public safety in Atlanta.

In June, Mayor Bottoms issued a series of Administrative Orders to accelerate progress to transform public safety and how policing is handled by the City of Atlanta.

Mayor Bottoms created the Use of Force Advisory Council and has received the Advisory Council’s 14-day recommendations as mandated in Administrative Order 2020-18. The Advisory Council provided 10 early action recommendations spanning three focus areas: Law and Policy, Police Culture and Mindsets, and Community and Partnerships. Next week, the Advisory Council will submit its 45-day recommendations to Mayor Bottoms.

Upon receiving the Advisory Council’s recommendations, Mayor Bottoms immediately acted upon three of the 10 recommendations by issuing three Administrative Orders and a letter to the Atlanta Citizen Review Board (ACRB). The remaining seven recommendations are under legal and operational review by Mayor Bottoms’ Administration to determine further action.

The first Administrative Order directs the Chief of Police to identify policies and procedural changes to further improve body worn camera compliance from the current level of 94%. The Order also directs the Atlanta Police Department (APD) to outline improvements to existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to improve transparency and responsiveness to public requests for officer footage.

The second Administrative Order directs the Chief Information Officer to develop a platform that allows the public to submit recordings of use of force violations. The recordings will be incorporated into future use of force investigations, ensuring that public recordings are included with APD footage in decisions. Further, it directs the development of SOPs to outline the use of videos during investigations, retention policies on citizen submissions and providing access to the Atlanta Citizen Review Board for independent investigation.

The third Administrative Order directs the Chief of Staff and City Attorney to work with the ACRB to identify measures to further strengthen the organization. These measures include legislative, budgetary, and/or operational needs to begin a proactive review by ACRB of all deadly use of force cases. Mayor Bottoms also issued a letter to the Atlanta Citizen Review Board highlighting the importance of their independent perspective and critical role in maintaining accountability. ACRB received a $427,000 budget increase for FY2021 to support new staff, community outreach and resolution review.

Since taking office, Mayor Bottoms has implemented a number of actions to reform Atlanta’s criminal justice system. including the elimination of cash bail bonds, equipping all officers with body cams, and closing our city jail.

Original source can be found here.