Mayoral candidate lays out public safety plan

ATLANTA - Antonio Brown said crime is at the top of the agenda in the upcoming mayor's race because wealthier communities, like Midtown and Buckhead, are seeing violence at unprecedented levels. 

The councilman has joined the race for the top political job in the city.

Without naming names, Brown asked, "Why haven't the political leaders over decades done something about this (crime) before now?"

Brown believes a significant portion of the crime spike can be traced to "people who feel left out." 

The candidate, who has a reputation of being a bit of a firebrand, says it will take a systemic change in the lives of poor people, as well as those with other challenges, to turn around a mounting public safety threat. 

He cited his own district that borders the Downtown's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Ahead of that construction, Brown said, those dilapidated properties could have been purchased by the city to create affordable housing. He noted that investors "swooped in" and bought that land which largely has gone undeveloped. 

And Brown wants to signal to the city's rank and file police officers that he is not against them. 

Any mayor will have to rebuild and reinvigorate the police force to get officers to perform amid hits to their morale. 

"A lot of my friends are police officers," Brown said. "And they do a tremendous job policing. You cannot let a few bad apples tarnish what the others are doing for our community."

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