The 50/10 Plan to Reimagine Public Safety in Athens-Clarke County

(proposed by Commissioners Mariah Parker and Tim Denson)

Protecting and caring for our community means taking a compassionate, expansive approach to
public safety and investing in the resources people need to secure their wellbeing.

1. Transition resources from policing into community health and safety: The COVID-
19 pandemic has highlighted the capacity of our Athens community to effectively
respond to complex problems. Yet, the police continue to be the ones tasked with
responding to a range of situations - from mental health crises to verbal disputes and drug
overdoses - which do not require an armed or forceful response. We’ve seen time and
time again how police meet social problems with violence, targeting Black and Brown
people and tearing communities apart. Truly redressing the extent of the harm done
requires investing in community-based alternatives to policing that enhance health and
safety.1 Our proposal commits $50,000 to developing an implementation plan for a tiered
50% reduction in the size of ACCPD over 10 years, while investing cost savings in
unarmed, non-police mental health professionals, social workers, and restorative justice
mediators.

We're currently asking police to solve social problems that the institution isn't equipped
for and wasn't designed to effectively address. A report by the Center for Popular
Democracy, the Black Youth Project (BYP) 100, and Law for Black Lives details how in
cities across the country, police spending significantly outpaces investments in vital
community resources and services, demonstrating the pervasiveness of a punitive
approach to health and safety rather than one that strengthens and nurtures communities2.
Nearly 1/3 of the ACC General Fund goes to law enforcement. That means we are
spending 5 times more on law enforcement than we are on Culture & Recreation and 10
times more on law enforcement than on Housing & Community Development. The
results are calamitous, from police violence to a mass incarceration system devastating
Athenians and their families. Instead, we should embrace a more expansive vision of
health and safety to accommodate the myriad struggles our communities face. The
appropriate response to homelessness is housing and economic security, not more
policing. The appropriate response to a mental health crisis is mental health services, not

1 American Civil Liberties Union (2020). “Statement from ACLU Executive Director:
Reimagining the Role of Police.” https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/reimagining-
the-role-of-police/
2The Center for Popular Democracy, Law for Black Lives, and Black Youth Project (BYP) 100
(2017). “Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety and Security in Our Communities.”
https://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/Freedom%20To%20Thrive%2C%20Higher
%20Res%20Version.pdf

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 more policing. The appropriate response to a tense dispute is restorative mediation, not
police force.

Municipalities across the country are taking steps to do just this: expand the vision of
health and safety by disinvesting in policing and devoting real resources to the supports
people actually need3. When Athenians call upon the local government for support and
protection in their times of crisis, they should be able to access specialized solutions.
Social workers can connect Athenians to critical social and economic aid. Restorative
justice mediators can facilitate healing for those engaged in disputes without enrolling
individuals in the criminal-legal system. And mental health professionals can respond to
situations involving people experiencing mental health crises. By compassionately
responding to community needs with a diverse toolkit of potential solutions, rather than
with the threat of police violence, we can strengthen our community and address the root
causes of social ills. (Cost: $50,000)

2. Fund an additional Mental Health Co-Responder Team for ACCPD:

This will put in place a third team for ACCPD’s successful, but underfunded, partnership
with Advantage Behavioral Health. The team consists of a case worker who works with a
specially-trained officer to respond to mental health crises. Nationally, nearly 15% of
incarcerated men and 30% of incarcerated women have a serious mental health
condition4. And at least 1 in 4 people killed by police have an untreated serious mental
illness5. Municipalities across the country are incorporating social workers and mental
health professionals into the fabric of emergency response6, because we know that
neurodiverse people, people experiencing mental health crises, people experiencing
homelessness, and more need resources, not punishment. These kinds of teams are an
important step in preventing undue use of force by police7 and ensuring that the needs of

3Urban Institute (2018). “Research Report: Public Investment in Community-Driven Safety

Initiatives.”
https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99262/public_investment_in_community-
driven_safety_initiatives_1.pdf
4National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). “Jailing People with Mental Illness.”
https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Divert-from-Justice-Involvement/Jailing-
People-with-Mental-Illness
5Treatment Advocacy Center (2015). “Overlooked in the Undercounted: The Role of Mental
Illness in Fatal Law Enforcement Encounters.”
https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/storage/documents/overlooked-in-the-
undercounted.pdf
6 See some examples of co-responder and Crisis Intervention Teams from Dallas, Miami,
Houston, and Seattle.
7Vera Institute of Justice (2019). “Crisis Response Services for People with Mental Illnesses or
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Review of the Literature on Police-based and
Other First Responder Models.” https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/crisis-response-

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 people experiencing a crisis are met by trained professionals, not armed law enforcement.
(Cost: ~ $111,000.)

3. Make permanent 5 of the FY21 recommended vacancies for ACCPD positions:

This is a first step toward the 10-year goal to reduce the size of ACCPD by 50 percent.
The crime rate in Athens is going down8, but our community nonetheless witnessed 6
fatal police shootings by the ACCPD in the past year. The Mayor’s proposed budget
already recommends these vacancies for FY21. By permanently removing them, the
county will save an estimated $200,000 a year after FY21, savings that can be redirected
toward employing and equipping professionals trained in helping our community
members navigate hardship, connect to resources, and access critical social supports.
(FY21: no cost or savings; Future budgets: savings of $200,000 or more)

4. Bring 911 dispatching under public control: Right now, when people call 911 for
emergency medical services, they have to explain their emergency twice: first to the
person answering the initial call and then again upon being transferred to National EMS.
In alignment with ACCPD’s report recommendations, we support ACCPD dispatch
handling those calls, having the ability to give medical instructions, and dispatching EMS
units. This would increase efficiency, get EMS units to the scene faster, and increase
accountability and transparency by removing private, for-profit companies from the
emergency dispatch equation. (Cost: $292,000, taken from E-911 Fund Balance)

5. Fund an additional social work position in the Public Defender’s office: The
Public Defender’s office employs one social worker currently, and more support is
necessary to better meet the needs of those coming in contact with our municipal court
system. (Cost: $57,100)

6. Increase Public Defender salaries so they more closely approximate District

Attorney pay: Public defenders are notoriously overburdened and underpaid, with too
many cases and not nearly enough time to devote the energy and resources necessary to
maintain the integrity of the constitutionally-protected right to legal counsel9. Public
defenders disproportionately serve wage-poor and low-wealth individuals who cannot
afford to pay for an attorney, so underinvesting in public defenders is just another form of

services-for-people-with-mental-illnesses-or-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities.pdf
8 According to statistics shared via personal correspondence with ACCUG Manager Blaine
Williams.
9American Bar Association (2004). Gideon’s Broken Promise: America’s Continuing Quest for
Equal Justice: A Report on the American Bar Association’s Hearings on Legal Aid and Indigent
Defendants.
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/ls_s
claid_def_bp_right_to_counsel_in_criminal_proceedings.authcheckdam.pdf

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 discrimination against poor folks and communities of color10. We need to increase the
pay of our public defender in ACC so they can devote more time and attention to their
cases and ensure just and adequate defense for the communities who have been the most
systematically harmed by the criminal-legal system. (Cost: $45,000)

Any additional expenses will be easily offset with the implementation of the following
savings:
● Eliminating the ACC salary supplement for the unelected District Attorney position -
$13,000
● Reducing the ACC salary supplement for 5 Assistant District Attorney positions -
$10,000
● Delaying new vehicle purchases for certain departments - $300,000
● Instituting a 120-day vacancy period before filling new job openings - $800,000

10 Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
New. York: The New Press.