Atlanta Mayor Announces A Series Administrative Orders Following Shooting Of Rayshard Brooks
A series of administrative orders that target police use of force policies were announced earlier this week by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The announcement comes after a black was shot dead last week, fueling the ongoing protests across the United States.
Speaking to reporters, Bottoms explained that the new rules will mandate police officers to use de-escalation measures before using physical force and that all occurrences of deadly force need to be reported to Atlanta's citizen review board. Aside from that, the new rules include assembling a body to state grievances and offering solutions related to police malpractice.
Other measures include requiring police officers to stop other officers from using unseemly force and reporting such incidents to their supervisors. Bottoms noted that it is just the beginning of a lot of work that lies ahead of them to ensure they leave no stone unturned in a bid to protect their communities.
Bottoms accentuated that police officers are supposed to be guardians rather than warriors within the communities. The move comes days after Rayshard Brooks was shot dead by the Atlanta police. Brooks, a 27-year-old black man was shot by a white police officer and this sparked violent protests that left Police Chief Erika Shields no choice but to resign, Fox News reported.
Citing the Friday incident, Bottoms said she quickly realized that there's a need to evaluate the training policies. She admitted that the worst example was seen on Friday night when Brooks was shot dead, adding that the incident angered and saddened her beyond words.
Video footage captured from the police body camera showed that Atlanta police officers were talking to Brooks just before he was shot in a Wendy's parking lot. Officer Devin Bronson came to the area after receiving a complaint of someone sleeping in a car.
Brooks said he drank a small amount of alcohol and took a field sobriety test and his blood-alcohol level was .108, above the .08 legal limit. Officer Garrett Rolfe, who arrived at the scene after Bronsan told Brooks that he was too drunk to be driving before trying to arrest him.
The officer's bodycams fell on the ground as a struggle started. The officers can be heard warning Brooks that he would be tased if he didn't stop fighting. At one point, Brooks seems to grab Bronsan's Taser. Brooks got away from the officers and turned around with the stun gun before he was shot dead.