Councilman proposes police leave blue lights on at night to deter crime

ATLANTA — Atlanta city leaders want police officers to turn on their blue lights at night to help stop crime.

But Channel 2′s Dave Huddleston talked with some people who worry it may put officers in danger.

Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis got a proposal passed Monday which asks police officers to turn on their blue lights at sunset and leave them on all night to help stop crime.

“I’m not a police officer, I’m not trained in police operations, so I’m going to ask all we can do is urge the police in Atlanta to look at this, to consider this. We don’t notice how powerful and strong our police are and how powerful their presence is at night,” Lewis said.

But do the lights make officers sitting targets?

The Atlanta Police Department didn’t want to answer that question directly but said, “Please be mindful, out of an abundance of caution, there are some instances in which we don’t want to announce our presence.”

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Lewis said police lights on at night could be a game-changer.

“I believe this will be one of the greatest deterrents of crime in the city of Atlanta’s history, when police officers ride around with those steel blues at night, citizens know there’s help right around the corner,” Lewis said.

Some Atlanta residents could see both the possible benefits and the concern that the lights make officers a target.

“You’re only a target if you want to be,” Ishea Westmoreland said.

“That could go both ways. You could feel like you’re a target, but overall, I think it could help all the neighborhoods,” Devin Gladney said.

Lewis said he plans to talk with the chief of police about this proposal to get his read on it.

Huddleston was there when he called the police commander in his District 3 precinct, and the commander said he would start using the blue lights at night.

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