Who will be Atlanta's next police chief? Mayor asks for public's input

ATLANTA - Mayor Andre Dickens has listened to his public safety employees about crime and their everyday job issues.

Now with a social media post, he's asking everyday citizens to help him in the effort to select the next chief of Atlanta police.

MAYOR DICKENS WANTS YOUR HELP PICKING THE NEXT CHIEF OF ATLANTA POLICE

There is a survey for citizens to list concerns.

"Hire more police," one said.

Another person wants a chief who ‘is going to solve the most gruesome murder’, referring to midtown resident Katie Janess who was stabbed in Piedmont Park.

Debra Wathen, who heads the Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, says the survey is very easy to take.

"It's time to raise the pay to be competitive with other jurisdiction," said Wathen.

When asked if things in the city have gotten worse, better or stayed the same, she replied: "Definitely worse."

"I think officer morale went downhill when those officers were fired [and] the former DA charged them," she said.

A citizen who works a lot with officers can backup what has been said about police morale.

"They just want to do their job and not have to worry about liabilities in a sense of being politicized," said Chris Rich, a security executive.

Chris Rich, a resident who often works with officers, says there is no more important hire for the Mayor to make.

"When you have to overthink about what gas station you go to, where you park your car, if a certain Walmart is safe to go to, I think it's just overwhelming. I think it is causing people to think twice about actually living here," Rich said.

Mayor Dickens will also not have specially picked locals looking over applications for the chief officer position, unlike his predecessors. He has hired a professional head-hunting team to do the job.