$5M In Metro Atlanta Crime Suppression Money Pledged: Gov. Kemp

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday pledged up to $5 million in emergency state funds to help curb crime in metro Atlanta.

The money will be made available through the end of June for state law enforcement agencies, including state troopers and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to support Atlanta Police in crime prevention efforts.

Atlanta Police Department crime statistics through May 15 showed a 50-percent increase in homicides year-to-date over 2020, a 32-percent jump in aggravated assaults, and a 35-percent rise in auto theft in that same time.

The spike in crime hit a crescendo on May 17. when a violent weekend of more than a dozen shooting incidents culminated in four separate gun homicides around the city before daybreak that Monday.

“It’s no secret that our capital city has a serious crime problem,” Kemp said in a video released Monday afternoon. “We see it covered in the news almost every day.”

Patch reached out to the office of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, but a response was not immediately available.

“This legislative session, my administration pushed for harsher penalties for reckless street racing,” Kemp said.

In addition to touting the street racing suppression law, he pointed to efforts to raise public awareness of human trafficking, his commitment to crack down on street gangs and an order given to State Public Safety Department Commissioner Col. Chris Wright to partner with local agencies to do more to help, which resulted in a partnership between Troopers and local agencies to create a crime suppression unit.

While the governor took shots at Atlanta City Hall, the funding he earmarked was not designated solely to help the state’s largest city.

“To double down on these successful efforts, today I am announcing this partnership of brave law enforcement officers at the state and local level will now have access to increased funding through the Governor’s Emergency Fund to strengthen their reserves in communities across Metro Atlanta,” he said. “This funding — up to $5 million through the end of June — will assist the Department of Public Safety and their partners in their mission to stop crime before it happens, and ensure law-breakers are brought to justice.”

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