Atlanta mayor announces new public safety initiative
ATLANTA - Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced an innovative new partnership Friday morning between the city of Atlanta, Atlanta police and GE Energy Connections.
“Together the city of Atlanta and GE will develop a best in class policing model using data analysis and enhanced training to address today’s complex safety challenges," Mayor Reed said.
Reed said the GE President and CEO Russell Stokes reached out to him following the recent protests over officer-involved shooting. Stokes said the city of Atlanta handled the protests well and asked if there was anything GE could do to help.
Mayor Reed said he took Stokes' offer as an opportunity to have a conversation about how they could make the kind gesture meaningful.
Reed said the city of Atlanta will use GE's business analysis capabilities to go through the budget for the Atlanta Police Department.
"Today, the city of Atlanta spends 52 percent of our general fund on public safety," Reed said. "We thought it would be a genuine value add to have a business like GE bring their skill set to the budget for the city of Atlanta and the public safety apparatus of the city of Atlanta, and point out ways we could do things better."
Reed said GE will also help with a recruiting model.
"Today we spend about $100,000 to train our police candidates. I've got to believe GE will help us get that $100,000 dollar number down a little bit, and at the same time not lose anything." Mayor Reed said.
Stokes spoke at the news conference Friday morning and said his company is excited to be helping Mayor Reed, Atlanta police and the city of Atlanta.
"We will commit over a million dollars," Stokes said. "But as heard the mayor say, it's a lot more than cutting a check.
Stokes said GE will focus on creating a replicable training programs.
"Our teams are already ready and we are truly excited about the potential of this partnership."