Atlanta Police Department: APD's Response To Inaccurate News Article

Atlanta GA

16 June, 2021

4:06 PM

Description

Press release from the Atlanta Police Department: 06/15/2021 We are publishing the below response to an inaccurate news article, to ensure our community members can see the issues with this story.   The Atlanta Police Department(APD) recently learned of the below news article which contains blatant falsehoods, and distorted facts in response to January 3, 2021 incident in the Buckhead community and other crime related issues in Atlanta. The officers with the APD work hard each and every day and deserve better than to have their reputation slandered by false information being peddled by a member of the media. Below are details showing the misinformation and the correct information for the specific incidents mentioned.   The article states officers appear to do nothing amid a drive-by-shooting and goes on to say police cars passed by and did not stop at the scene. The article includes a line saying, "They did not stop, he said, but did call an ambulance and 'rendered help at the scene." While we understand this was a statement provided by someone they interviewed, it takes no special skills to see that not stopping and rendering help at the scene both cannot be accurate. It draws the natural question of how officers rendered aid if they never stopped? In truth, several APD officers were near the incident, heard the shots being fired and immediately reacted. One officer did observe the suspect vehicle leaving the scene and he was also advised by witnesses there were additional armed suspects in a nearby parking deck. The officer chose to secure the scene and provide a lookout of the suspect vehicle to additional responding officers. While on scene, the officer provided medical care to preserve the life of the wounded.  Simply because a security camera did not capture all his efforts, a member of the media chose to criticize his efforts and politicize the incident. I am quite certain the shooting victim the officer placed a tourniquet on, was appreciative that he remained on scene and rendered aid.   It is extremely frustrating to see our efforts minimized and used in the manner they have been. We are proud of the efforts of our officers, as well as the efforts of those who responded to assist. We are also proud of the work our investigators have put into this case. We have some of the best investigators in the business and are confident the person behind this shooting will be brought to justice.   The other incident brought up in this inaccurate news article is the June 5, 2021, shooting of a jogger on W. Wesley Road. The article indicates the jogger was shot and killed during the incident, yet that is not true. The incident is deeply disturbing to us all, but false claims that the victim was killed serve no productive purpose. The jogger, 41-year-old Andrew Worrell, was taken to the hospital in stable condition.   The article discusses several crime related topics specific to Atlanta and we wish more context had been included. 1.            The article states "There are only 82 cops on the beat in Buckhead right now, the square footage of San Francisco that has 2,000 cops." We believe it would have been helpful to include in the comparison San Francisco has more than 870,000 residents, whereas Buckhead has approximately 87,000.  Additionally, it appears the number of police officers listed for San Francisco includes all officers employed by the agency, but the numbers for APD officers failed to include anything beyond those at the rank of Officer and assigned to Zone 2. It did not include our Senior Police Officers and Sergeants who also patrol the streets of Buckhead and it did not include any of our discretionary units that we utilize each day to keep our streets safe. the number fails to include Senior Police Officers, supervisors and discretionary units utilized each day to fight crime in this area. 2.            The report touches on our agency's pursuit policy and covers the fact pursuits were temporarily suspended and then reinstated. We feel it is important to point out the new policy was implemented after the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) was asked to look at our policy and provide an unbiased, outside opinion, taking into consideration crime trends and the safety of our communities. The new policy does restrict pursuits to only "forcible" or violent felonies and requires officers to have knowledge the person being pursued is involved in a violent crime. We do not feel it is in the public's best interest to chase individuals who have not been involved in a forceable felony and we continue to stand by that decision.   We would have appreciated an opportunity to provide this information prior to these news agencies airing their inaccurate stories, but we were not afforded that. We do appreciate the members of the media who took the time to reach out to us and ask whether these stories were true. We understand the competitive nature of media and the urge to use government agencies for political topics, but we want nothing to do with these games. Our officers take crime in this city personally. We are focused on violent crime issues throughout the city and will continue our work to improve the quality of life for those in our city. We value the support we receive from all of our communities and we remain committed our work.   News article in question: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9687009/Video-shows-cops-doing-people-shot-police-limits-car-chases-Atlanta.html   Radio Traffic for January 3, 2021 shooting on Pharr Road: https://cityofatlanta-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/jchafee_atlantaga_gov/EbYFprDeez9Put29RdZTl5gBRu-7RdJxbvka1wMCiQzFIw?e=YcefX1   Sound provided by Commanders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOvMDM9UzQ This press release was produced by the Atlanta Police Department. The views expressed here are the author's own.