FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly a year after Atlanta announced it was creating a specialized unit to track repeat offenders through the Fulton County court system, a newly-released report shows that authorities are making progress.
On May 2, Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission, a collaborative effort by city, county, state, and federal agencies, as well as private sector organizations, to reduce Repeat Offender crime, issued its 2022 progress report.
A comprehensive analysis of 2022 Fulton County and City of Atlanta arrests and indictments showed that 889 individuals accounted for 26 percent of Atlanta’s felony cases in 2022, down from 30 percent in 2021.
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A repeat offender is someone who has three or more felony convictions.
The Commission created the Repeat Offender Tracking Unit to accurately and quickly determine if criminal defendants were repeat offenders and to share their criminal histories in real-time among the agencies that comprise the criminal justice system.
“The Repeat Offender Tracking Unit has proven to be a model of inter-agency cooperation,” Dave Wilkinson, president & CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation said. “We’ve made real progress in making our justice system more responsive and efficient.”
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The Southern Center for Human Rights sent the following statement to Channel 2 regarding the commission:
“This recent report from the Atlanta Police Foundation about its ‘Repeat Offender Commission,’ which recycles the tactics of failed past initiatives, is disheartening. The only non-government, non-law enforcement groups consulted represent well-funded entities in Buckhead and Midtown, which demonstrates our government’s violent efforts to further stratify Atlanta by race and class. The overwhelming majority of people dehumanized as ‘repeat offenders’ in this program are Black. Moreover, despite claims that the program is focused on physical violence, the largest share of people bearing the pejorative label are charged with drug offenses. Further, the study is devoid of any analysis aimed at preventing gun violence in the city and instead focuses on after-the-fact years-long prosecution. By bullying judges and defendants, DA Willis and the Atlanta Police Foundation infringe on constitutional protections and will undoubtedly complicate re-entry for people impacted by the criminal legal system. "
-SCHR Public Policy Director Tiffany Williams Roberts
The full report can be found at this link.
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