On Wednesday, amid rising escalations and just hours after the fired police officer who shot dead Rayshard Brooks has been charged, three out of Atlanta Police Department’s six zones allegedly stopped responding to calls.
While the Atlanta PD confirmed that “the department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift,” they denied allegations that some officers “had walked off the job.”
As the police force insisted in their statement, they still “have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.”
According to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the city might request assistance from other departments and partners if needed.
In an interview with Chris Cuomo of CNN, the mayor recognized that police officers are feeling the effects of the changes and confirmed they would be rewarded for honoring their commitment with a big pay raise.
“We do have enough officers to cover us through the night. Our streets won’t be any less safe because of the number of officers who called out,” Bottoms said according to CNN.
“But it is just my hope again that our officers will remember the commitment that they made when they held up their hand and they were sworn in as police officers.”
The reports of unanswered calls and allegations of police walkouts followed just hours after Garrett Rolfe, a fired Atlanta cop, has been charged with the felony murder of Rayshard Brooks whom he had shot in the back two times after the man failed a sobriety test and attempted to run away.
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Replaced!