This story was published in partnership with Counterstream Media for The AI issue of Peace & Riot. ATLANTA — When he drives through his neighborhood now, Brian Page passes rows of police cars and AI‑powered cameras that track nearly every movement. For most of his life, Page, who goes by “Scapegoat Jones,” felt safest in […]
Atlanta Police
Posted inEssay, History
History Beneath Our Feet: The Police Killings That Sparked Summer Riots in the 1960s
Atlanta loves to repeat its favorite line, a city too busy to hate. But these places know otherwise. There are streets in Atlanta where memory lies low, beneath the asphalt, whispering like wind through brick. If you walk slowly enough, you’ll hear it: not history, but instruction. Not nostalgia, but reckoning. Begin here. Georgia Avenue. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
APD Must Now Report All Deadly Force to Citizen Review Board
Last week, Atlanta officials celebrated an agreement between the police department and the Atlanta Citizen Review Board to increase civilian oversight over the agency. In a statement, Mayor Andre Dickens described the agreement as a step toward rebuilding trust between the government and the people it serves. Tiffany Roberts, co-founder of Building Locally to Organize […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
State NAACP Calls for Appeal in Fatal Atlanta Police Shooting After Judge Drops Charges
Jimmy Hill is determined to continue his fight for justice after a federal judge decided Tuesday to drop the charges against retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim, who shot and killed his son Jimmy Atchison in 2019. “Change ain’t going to come if we sit back and wait on others,” Hill told Capital B Atlanta […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Judge to Decide Whether to Move Forward With Trial in Fatal Police Shooting of Jimmy Atchison
Jimmy Hill became visibly emotional on Monday as he watched retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim testify for the first time in federal court about fatally shooting Hill’s son, Jimmy Atchison. Hill told Capital B Atlanta after the evidentiary hearing that he got caught up in the moment during Kim’s remarks, which he characterized as […]
Posted inCop City, Courts, Politics & Policy, Public Safety
Family of Slain ‘Stop Cop City’ Activist Sues in Pursuit of Answers
The parents of an activist fatally shot by the Georgia State Patrol SWAT team in 2023 have filed a lawsuit against three law enforcement officers that they say violated their child’s First and Fourth Amendment rights. Manuel Esteban Paez Terán — better known as Tortuguita — was a 26-year-old nonbinary environmental activist who was protesting the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Jimmy Atchison’s Family Hopes Justice Is Served Five Years After His Death
A preliminary hearing began Tuesday in the case against retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim, who is charged in the 2019 shooting death of Adamsville resident Jimmy Atchison. Kim was one of multiple APD officers on an FBI fugitive task force that was pursuing Atchison for allegedly stealing a woman’s purse and cellphone at gunpoint. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Two Months Later, Family of Man Fatally Shot by Off-Duty APD Officer Is Searching for Answers
Two months have passed since Devon Anderson, 38, was killed by off-duty Atlanta police officer Melvin Potter, yet the victim’s family has had barely any communication from law enforcement authorities regarding the status of the investigation, according to his mother. Potter, who is still employed by the Atlanta Police Department, has been relieved of duty […]
Posted inCop City, Criminal Justice
Environmental Impact Targeted in New Push Against ‘Cop City’
Opponents of the developing Atlanta Public Safety Training Center have adopted a new strategy to stop the so-called “Cop City” from being built. Activists filed a complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance last week, arguing that the 85-acre site in unincorporated southern DeKalb County is damaging the ecosystem in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
‘Release the Tape!’ Johnny Hollman’s Relatives Bring Emotional Pleas to City Council
The Atlanta City Council on Monday called for police to release body camera video of Johnny Hollman’s fatal encounter with an officer, responding to nearly two months of passionate pleas from the 62-year-old church deacon’s relatives. The council members unanimously approved a resolution urging Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta Police Department to release the […]