Atlanta City Council discusses reallocation of funds to 'people programs'

ATLANTA - All across the nation as well as in Georgia, there are calls to take public dollars away from police and law enforcement agencies and reallocate those funds to so-called "people programs".

Atlanta leaders show no enthusiasm for such a proposal, but the mayor says there is one city agency, the jail, which has and will see public dollars shifted for social initiatives.

There is one undeniable fact that demonstrators can add to their argument about pulling funding from the downtown city jail and reallocating those dollars for so-called "people programs.”

For more than a year, the staff -- numbering several hundred -- are monitoring only two or three dozen inmates on a given day.

While the demonstrators may make some headway targeting the jail, they won't pick up any support from council members about gutting the Atlanta Police Department budget.

Long before public safety budget-slashing became a battle cry, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the jail was not needed and should be shut down. How much money does it take to keep the building open? Nearly $18 million on an annual basis.