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Mayor Bottoms announces council tasked with combatting gun violence

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  May 12, 2021 9:07pm EDT
Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

ATLANTA - A little more than a week after she called on state politicians to react to a surge in gun violence in Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced a new Anti-Violence Advisory Council to address the problem.

The council is comprised of 14 people — non-profit leaders, former law enforcement leaders and city councilmembers — tasked with finding solutions to surges in crime across Atlanta.

The first meeting of the council will be on May 19.  

Members of the council include:

  • Sally Yates: Partner, King & Spalding Law Firm; Special Matters & Government Investigations (Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General
  • Carol Tomé: Chief Executive Officer, UPS
  • Randall Slaughter: (Retired) Fire Chief, Atlanta Fire Rescue Department
  • Matthew Wesley Williams: President, The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC)
  • Dave Wilkinson: President & CEO, Atlanta Police Foundation
  • JP Matzigkeit: Atlanta City Councilmember, District 8
  • Andrea Boone: Atlanta City Councilmember, District 10
  • Courtney Smith: President & LPC, Midtown Neighbors Association
  • Dorthey Hurst: Atlanta Citizen Review Board (ACRB); representing NPUs M-R.
  • George Turner: Atlanta Hawks, (Retired) Police Chief, Atlanta Police Department
  • Michael Langford: Regional Vice President Atlanta Community Involvement Center, WestCare Foundation
  • Joycelyn Wilson, Ph.D.: Georgia Tech, (Hip Hop & Media Studies)
  • Renata Turner: Presiding Judge, Fulton County Juvenile Court
  • Deborah Scott: CEO, Georgia Stand Up

RELATED: Atlanta mayor names permanent police chief, calls for stricter gun laws in Georgia

Bottoms said last week the working group will present recommendations in 30 to 45 days regarding what more the city can do.

The advisory council is the latest in a handful of measures taken by the city to combat a rise in violence. Recently, the city added 250 officers on the street, expanded cameras in the city, increased license plate readers and added 10,000 lights to city streets.

The mayor called 2021 "one of the most challenging years for law enforcement in this country," describing recent shootings as a "COVID crime wave."

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