Atlanta Interim police chief Rodney Bryant talks crime

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    ATLANTA, GA (WGCL) — Interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant knows the homicide numbers over the past few months don’t look great. Beginning May 31, murders began to spike with things appearing to reach a boiling point in July.

The Fourth of July weekend saw dozens of people shot, including 8-year-old Secoriea Turner.

“We really saw it really taking a significant trajectory upward during that period of time,” Bryant told CBS46 reporter Ashley Thompson. “I think from that moment on, we had about 22 homicides and that was very concerning.”

Bryant said most of the city’s homicides involve the victim and shooter having some sort of dispute.

“It really boils down to a lack of conflict resolution,” he said.

The data shows that overall crime in the city is down.

“Our rapes are down, our auto thefts are down, our larcenies are down and our larceny from autos are down.”

Bryant said homicides are also beginning to trend downward. He predicts it will continue on that trajectory as we head into the fall.

Some policing, like traffic stops, plunged amid the pandemic and during protests, a 98 percent reduction.

“One has to recognize that we’re not seeing the same volume, people aren’t going to work,” Bryant explained of the decline.

But as more people start to venture out, he said we’ll see more police activity.

Atlanta police are just now starting to take a breath after months of social unrest.

“The profession as a whole has taken a tremendous hit,” Bryant said. “We continue to see fallout everyday as it relates to what’s going on in law enforcement.”

He admits morale was low but said things are starting to turn around.

“As we are able to get back focused, doing what we do every day, and that is addressing the crime, I think you’ll see a significant impact.”

The Atlanta Police Department has made changes since former chief Erika Shields resigned in June.

“We have implemented training now where there is a duty to intervene as well as to give warning and then we’re re-evaluating our use of force.”

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