Protesters seek crackdown on crime: ‘ Totally out of control’

Some fear going outside, say they’ve lost faith in mayor.

Atlanta’s deadliest year in decades may be over, but crimea san issue appears likely to remain on the forefront as Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms seeks a second term this fall.

And a small group of protesters who gathered Monday outside City Hall made their feelings clear: The city needs new leadership if crime is to be curtailed.

“We’ ve reached a tipping point where some of us have to stand up,” said Amber Connor, president of Concerned Citizens United, which organized Monday’s demonstration. “We decided as mama bears that we were done. It’ s about our children, it’s about our safety, it’s about our city.”

Atlanta police reported 157 homicides in 2020, an increase of more than 50% from 2019 and the highest total this century. The death of 7- year- old Kennedy Maxie, shot in the head Dec. 21 while riding in a car with her family near Buckhead’s Phipps Plaza, served as a catalyst for many. City Councilman Howard Shook struck a chord with many critics when he released a st atement j ust before Christmas imploring the mayor to “stop minimizing our concerns by telling us that ‘ crime is up everywhere.’”

On Monday, as the group of roughly 40 protesters circled City Hall, Bottoms released a new plan she says is “the first part of a broader effort focused on bolstering support for the Atlanta Police Department and reforming policing in the city.”

The proposal, issued via a news release, focuses on expanding enforcement of “nuisance properties,” allotting additional resources to combat gangs and gun violence, and improving APD recruiting and retention.

But protesters interviewed Monday say they have lost faith in the mayor.

“I’ve never been afraid to get gas or go to the grocery store before,” north Buckhead resident Agie Rutkowski, 41, said. “Now, if it’s dark outside, I don’t go out.”

Amid chants of “Wake up, Keisha,” Rutkowski, a native Atlantan, said she knows several people who are seriously considering leaving the city because of the rise in crime.

“It’s a total lack of leadership,” she said.

Concha Godinez, who has lived here for 27 years, said she doesn’t know how much longer she’ll stay.

“Things are totally out of control,” said Godinez, 62. Bottoms, she said, “is in over her head.”

“I love Atlanta. I don’t want to leave,” she added. “But it’s gotten to where I don’t go out at night. I don’t let my children go to the malls. Things have got to change.”

Bottoms, who not long ago was being touted as a potential nominee for vice president, is up for reelection in November. Political strategist Howard Franklin said the increase in crime has made the mayor more vulnerable to a credible challenger.

“Her inevitability isn’ t what it once was,” Franklin said, though he added that the power of incumbency, and Bottoms’ support from Atlanta’s political establishment, are nearly impossible obstacles to overcome.

History is on her side. It has been nearly 50 years since an incumbent Atlanta mayor was toppled.

Franklin said he would advise the mayor to meet with constituents face to face, absorbing their ire if necessary.

“She’s got to stop governing by press release,” he said.

STEVE SCHAEFER/ FOR THE AJC A group marches Monday around City Hall, protesting against the rise in Atlanta homicides in 2020. One protester who is a mom said she does not allow her children to go to the mall anymore.