Offering an Alternative to Police Arrests in Atlanta

Half of the arrests made by the Atlanta Police Depart­ment between 2013 and 2021 were for low-lev­el vio­la­tions, such as drug use, pub­lic intox­i­ca­tion, solic­i­ta­tion, dis­or­der­ly con­duct and loi­ter­ing, accord­ing to the Police Score­card project.

Since 2017, the Polic­ing Alter­na­tives and Diver­sion (PAD) Ini­tia­tive — which is fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion — has con­nect­ed Atlanta res­i­dents with com­mu­ni­ty-based resources and helped them avoid arrests or jail time.

“The pre-arrest diver­sion work PAD is pio­neer­ing in Atlanta demon­strates how com­mu­ni­ties can address issues like hous­ing insta­bil­i­ty and com­mu­ni­ty safe­ty with empa­thy and com­pas­sion,” said Aman­da Jaquez, a senior asso­ciate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. ​“This ini­tia­tive not only helps peo­ple avoid poten­tial­ly life-alter­ing inter­ac­tions with law enforce­ment, but it also helps Atlanta res­i­dents who may be strug­gling with home­less­ness, men­tal ill­ness or oth­er chal­lenges receive the help they need.”

Reimag­in­ing First Responders

PAD was launched in the Atlanta Police Department’s Zone 5, which cov­ers most of down­town Atlanta as well as neigh­bor­hoods near Geor­gia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Geor­gia Tech and mid­town. It now cov­ers the entire city. 

PAD exec­u­tive direc­tor Moki Macías is the for­mer direc­tor of Com­mu­ni­ty Build­ing for the Casey Foundation’s Atlanta Civic Site. ​“I learned so much from orga­niz­ing with neigh­bors to advance com­mu­ni­ty-based solu­tions dur­ing my time with Casey,” Macías said. ​“Every­thing required for a healthy com­mu­ni­ty — qual­i­ty hous­ing, wel­com­ing pub­lic ameni­ties and green­space, access to jobs and a safe­ty net for those who need it — is also what makes a com­mu­ni­ty safe. Pun­ish­ing peo­ple when they don’t have these basic resources is a failed approach, which is why we need alter­na­tives like PAD.”

Atlanta police offi­cers are encour­aged to refer indi­vid­u­als who need help with sub­stance use, poor men­tal health or extreme pover­ty to PAD. The ini­tia­tive also encour­ages com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to call 311 and request PAD when they see some­one in cri­sis or who may need help.

In its first year, PAD divert­ed 69 indi­vid­u­als from jail to com­mu­ni­ty ser­vices. Through direct police action and staff locat­ed in emer­gency call cen­ters, the orga­ni­za­tion now responds to approx­i­mate­ly 200 requests for help each month. 

“Arrest­ing peo­ple for unmet needs is sim­ply not humane or sus­tain­able,” said Denise White, PAD’s deputy direc­tor. ​“Once some­one comes into our care, our com­mu­ni­ty response team works with them to iden­ti­fy their basic needs and how we can offer imme­di­ate help. In some cas­es, they are con­nect­ed to a care nav­i­ga­tor who helps with their long-term needs, such as sub­stance use treat­ment, coun­sel­ing and access to housing.”

Recent­ly, PAD began offer­ing class­es that focus on anger man­age­ment and social-emo­tion­al skills build­ing. In 2023, it opened a food pantry in part­ner­ship with the Atlanta Com­mu­ni­ty Food Bank. At PAD’s new Com­mu­ni­ty Ser­vices Cen­ter, peo­ple can rest, charge their phones or access social services.

What’s Next for PAD?

This fall, PAD will cel­e­brate the open­ing of Atlanta’s first diver­sion cen­ter. This facil­i­ty — open 24 hours a day, sev­en days a week — is oper­at­ed by Grady Memo­r­i­al Hos­pi­tal in part­ner­ship with PAD and Geor­gia Jus­tice Project. It offers new ser­vices that include:

• A ​“sober­ing cen­ter” for those who are strug­gling with drug or alco­hol addic­tion or with­draw­al. The cen­ter will pro­vide med­ical super­vi­sion, beds for rest and emer­gency trans­porta­tion if needed.
• A war­rant clin­ic to help peo­ple with missed court dates. Attor­neys with Geor­gia Jus­tice Project will work with local courts to help indi­vid­u­als resched­ule exist­ing court appear­ances and avoid bench warrants.

PAD will offer its long-term care nav­i­ga­tor through the diver­sion cen­ter, which also has one unusu­al fea­ture. ​“When some­one enters the cen­ter, the first thing they’ll notice is the smell of fresh pop­corn,” said Macías. ​“I know that may sound strange, but we want­ed a scent that’s instinc­tive­ly com­fort­ing. The peo­ple walk­ing through these doors are like­ly scared or exhaust­ed and we want them to feel not just allowed to be here, but tru­ly welcome.”

Learn how the Geor­gia Jus­tice Project is help­ing Atlanta res­i­dents avoid arrests and convictions