Crime & Safety

Residents Pressure Police Chief to Bring Major Back to Midtown

Community upset that Major Khirus Williams is retiring.

Locals are upset that Major Khirus Williams will no longer preside over police Zone 5, which covers neighborhoods including Midtown, and they want to make that clear to Atlanta Police Chief George Turner.

In April, Williams to do away with foot, bicycle, segway and motorcycle patrols in Midtown. And last week, he announced that over the issue. That announcement came after the Atlanta Police Department decided to demote him to the rank of lieutenant. The demotion is to become effective May 11.

Leaders from Midtown, Home Park, the Old Fourth Ward and other neighborhoods protested Williams' removal at Atlanta City Council's public-safety committee Tuesday afternoon.

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Midtown Patch attended the meeting and live blogged the comments. Here's what people had to say:

3:05 p.m. -- The community development committee meeting is running late. Dist. 6 Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan says the public-safety meeting probably will not start for another hour. 

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3:20 p.m. -- In attendance to speak so far: Penelope Cheroff, chair of Neighborhood Planning Unit-E; Kit Sutherland, president of Fourth Ward Alliance Neighborhood Association; Dan Grossman, lead attorney on the Atlanta Eagle case; and John Wolfinger, who leads the Virginia-Highland Safety Team.

3:41 p.m. -- Peggy Denby, president of the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance, has arrived. 

3:57 p.m. -- The public-safety committee meeting starts. 

3:59 p.m. -- Dist. 3 Councilman Ivory Lee Young, Jr., who chairs the public-safety committee meeting, makes opening remarks about Williams. He calls the topic a "hot button issue." 

Young says "I think it's regrettable that he is no longer on the force." But that "no zone is an island. No commander is an island." He says Williams' behavior "puts in jeopardy" all the resources for all of the zones. 

"This is a paramilitary organization ... and they respond to a chain of command," Young said. 

4:08 p.m. -- Public comments will be allowed at the end of the public-safety committee meeting. Please stay tuned for comments from concerned citizens. Around eight people have signed up to speak. 

4:53 p.m. -- Rick Day, owner of the Spring4th Center, takes the podium to read a statement from the Midtown Neighbors' Association.

The letter expresses "great concern" over the retirement of Williams.

"He treats our community as if he lives there himself ... Rarely do citizens rally around officers."

4:55 p.m. -- Day said Williams has always been "very prompt" when concerns have arisen at his business. "He is the only cop I know and that is important."

Day asked the public-safety committee "Where do we fall in that chain of command?" in response to Young's opening remarks. 

"We are at the top," Day said. 

4:58 p.m. -- Gay Lemmerhirt of Castleberry Hills takes the podium. 

"I became sick to my stomach," she said when she read the email that Williams was retiring. "I had his cell phone number. Where else do you have that kind of accessibility?

"I'd love to see him reinstated, but I am guessing there is too much bad blood at this point."

5:02 p.m. -- Kathy Boehmer, public safety chair of the Home Park Community Improvement Association, makes comments about Williams. 

"He changed our neighborhood with the programs he implemented," she said. Boehmer said his programs reduced crime in the Home Park neighborhood. 

"You do need to have a chain of command, but sometimes it doesn't work," she said. 

5:06 p.m. -- Boehmer said she thinks Williams did what he had to in light of the proposal to stop Midtown patrols. 

"He is just too valuable for this city to lose," she said. 

5:07 p.m. -- John Wolfinger, who leads the Virginia-Highland Safety Team, speaks on behalf of Zone 6. 

Williams "treated me just like I belonged in Zone 5."

Wolfinger said he is worried that other officers need to be careful about challenging superiors. "Let's not place a barrier of fear" on open communications, Wolfinger said. He sees this as a city-wide concern. 

5:10 p.m. -- Kit Sutherland, president of Fourth Ward Alliance Neighborhood Association, expresses her support of Williams. She said the major changed her perception of the Atlanta Police Department. 

"Now it appears neighborhood leaders are going to lose an alliance," Sutherland said. She said Williams always was accessible by phone or email, and often attended neighborhood meetings to talk with residents. 

"Make this one work out right. There is a lot at stake," she said. 

5:13 p.m. -- Peggy Denby, president of Midtown Ponce Security Alliance and public safety chair of Neighborhood Planning Unit-E, takes the podium. 

"I've emailed him at 1:30 in the morning and he responded," Denby said. She said Williams has done amazing things to help clean up crime in the neighborhood. 

"We need him back .. we need your help."

5:15 p.m. -- Dan Grossman, attorney and Ansley Park resident, speaks about Williams' passion for the community. 

"I don't hear positive comments about a lot of police officers," Grossman said.

He discusses the "800-pound gorilla" in the room -- the "insubordination."

"He simply communicated public information," Grossman said. He said Williams tried to work out his issues with the proposal within the chain of command before going to the public. 

Grossman said "the APD needs to be building bridges to the community ... Major Williams represents a link to the people." He said it is not too late for this decision to be undone. 

5:24 p.m. -- Dist. 10 Councilman C. T. Martin says Williams' "real commander" is Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. 

"I really think y'all should take this to the Mayor," Martin said. Reed is the only one who can turn the decision around now. "We can not" as City Council, Martin said. 

5:28 p.m. -- Grossman said he would be "very happy" to speak to the mayor. 

"There is no open mic in the Mayor's office," he said. 

Grossman said the council needs to formulate its own independent opinion. 

5:30 p.m. -- Martin said he plans to have a conversation with the mayor. 

"One of the problems for us is we can not do an investigation," Martin said, since it is a personnel matter. 

5:32 p.m. -- Young thanks the public for attending. 

"I appreciate the time that all of you have taken to be here," Young said. He said he plans to take his notes to Chief Turner. 

"I'm sure this issue is far from over," he said. "I think there is more to talk about."

Young said council doesn't make decisions but "we influence everything."

5:35 p.m. -- Dist. 6 Councilman Alex Wan said he is proud of the community for coming to speak. 

"I don't know how this is going to play out," Wan said. "At the very least, I know y'all were heard today."

5:37 p.m. -- Post 1 At-Large Councilman Michael Julian Bond said he will put the concerns he heard from the community in writing. 

"You have got to take your concerns to the Mayor directly," Bond said. "He really is the only person who has the power" to bring Williams back. 

He said if Williams doesn't return as major, then the community needs to voice what they want in the next Zone 5 commander. 

"You need to get what you want in a future person," Bond said. 

5:41 p.m. -- Martin said it's the first time that he has heard so many people speak about community policing. 

5:44 p.m. -- Grossman said great leaders can admit they've gone down the wrong path. 

"Nobody wants Chief Turner to lose face," he said. 

5:45 p.m. -- Meeting adjourned. 


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