Atlanta Community Moves to Separate from City over Rising Crime: ‘Our Divorce Is Final’

An Atlanta community has reportedly made the decision to separate from the city in order to create its own police force, according to Bill White, who is the Buckhead City Committee CEO.

White said the decision was made as crime in Atlanta has risen, and the police are not receiving the proper funds, Fox News reported Thursday.

He told the outlet’s Bill Hemmer during an interview on America’s Newsroom he estimates about 80 percent of the community will vote in favor of the move.

“We have two bills in the Georgia legislature dropping in January to decide this referendum ballot,” White commented, adding, “We filed our divorce papers at the city of Atlanta, and our divorce is final.”

According to White, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ (D) policies have emboldened criminals and disappointed the Atlanta Police Department.

“They feel demoralized, underpaid, under-recognized. They are being told basically not to fight crime in the way they would like to,” he commented.

Forty-one-year-old Andrew Worrell was shot two times recently while walking through his neighborhood, however, it was not an isolated incident because two joggers reported being shot at in the same timeframe, the Fox article read.

“We’re going to get a hold of it here in Buckhead,” White declared.

The updated Buckhead City will have its own law enforcement to zero in on lowering the crime rate.

“We’ll have our own court. We’ll have our own judge. We’ll have our own jail,” White explained. “And we are going to put the smackdown on this crime once and for all here, because the people of Buckhead have had enough.”

In May, Mayor Bottoms announced she would not seek reelection this year and published an open letter to residents, Breitbart News reported.

She said, “As Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us, it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor.”

The Breitbart News article continued:

The past year was Atlanta’s deadliest year in over decades in terms of total homicides. The city had a 46 percent increase in homicides in late 2020 compared to the same timeframe in 2019, according to the city’s police. In March, Bottoms blamed the coronavirus outbreak for rising homicides during her tenure. She said, “Our court system effectively shut down, people lost jobs, loved ones died, and our crime began to spike.”

Meanwhile, White appeared confident the separation will give Buckhead the ability to address crime and also benefit Atlanta.

“A new Buckhead city will do a much better job and will work very well with Atlanta. We’re going to help Atlanta. We’re going to be two strong cities, prosperous and safe, we pray,” he said.