Atlanta, like most major cities this year, is experiencing a surge in violent crime. The city is also playing out the next logical chapter of the “defund the police” movement: private, supplemental police forces for affluent communities.
The calls for a private security force have come from Buckhead, which a coalition of politicians, residents, and businesses claim is called “the Beverly Hills of the East.” A 7-year-old girl in Buckhead was recently killed by a stray bullet while Christmas shopping with her family, as Atlanta has seen homicides rise 61% from last year.
Atlanta City Council members have said that it is “obvious that the civilian authorities do not control the streets” and that not enough resources are being put toward effective policing. As a result, Buckhead is pushing forward with a security plan that would cost $1.62 million, with new police patrols hitting the streets in January.
This is the natural result of the movement to defund police. If cities decide not to direct enough resources to their police departments, wealthier communities such as Buckhead will fundraise for supplemental police forces. Less affluent communities won’t have that privilege; instead, they will have to rely on an insufficiently funded police department in a time when homicides and aggravated assaults have spiked.
Minneapolis has narrowly avoided a similar path, as its City Council voted 7-6 to approve bringing in outside officers to supplement the city’s police force. But hospitals have not, as many across the country have also turned to private police forces in the aftermath of the riots stemming from this summer’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
The path forward is not pulling funding from police departments, as Atlanta has been doing for years. It’s better-funded police departments, backed by city and local leaders who don’t condemn the entire profession over controversial (and sometimes justified) police encounters. Minneapolis ran away from this path, and they now have to bring in officers from outside their department. In Atlanta, communities are having to do that themselves.
Homicides have risen in major cities across the country this year, in some as much as 90% compared to last year. If cities can’t provide their police departments with adequate resources and support, wealthier communities such as Buckhead are going to pay for it out of pocket. But that won’t be an option for less wealthy communities in Atlanta or elsewhere, which will be stuck relying on depleted police forces while their city leaders enjoy their own protection.
