Atlanta City Council members on Monday approved the city’s contract with the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative after months on hold while the Dickens administration considered other options.
Dozens of PAD employees, criminal justice advocates and concerned citizens have descended on City Hall since September to speak out in support of the organization that was founded in 2017, and helps non-violent offenders receive services instead of being taken to jail.
PAD steps in to help residents experiencing extreme poverty, substance abuse or mental health problems through Atlanta’s non-emergency 3-1-1 line, or at the request of the police department. It’s part of a broader effort to reduce arrests and connect vulnerable individuals to community-based services.
Despite awarding a new, multi-year contract to PAD in the spring, the legislation approving the agreement was stalled as officials explored other ways the city can provide diversion services.
Just a few weeks ago, the city issued a request for proposal for the same services already awarded to PAD, but excluded the organization from bidding through a closed, special procurement process.
It was unclear why the Dickens administration pushed back against the program. That was until Monday at the council meeting when city and public safety officials voiced concerns about the success of the program compared to the level of funding dedicated to it.
“What we have seen is a huge increase in funding, but the numbers beginning to trickle down,” Atlanta’s Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks said on Monday. “And that is a cause of concern for us.”
The mayor’s office has also said that the opening of the new Center for Diversion and Services located within the city detention center will change the scope of pre-arrest services needed throughout the city. Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that PAD’s services don’t fit the police department’s needs.
“We are at 24 hours a day, seven day a week, operation in all weather, at all times that we’re required to be of assistance to our citizens,” he said. “Diversion center is going to allow us to make sure we have a resource that is there around the clock for us.”
Atlanta City Council members rarely push back against the mayor’s office and have a strong working relationship with the administration. But multiple members of council had harsh words for city officials on Monday and called out the Dickens administration for awarding a contract then issuing a “secret” special procurement for the same services.
“I find the administration’s position a bit confusing at best, and revisionary and a bit gaslighting at worst,” councilman Amir Farokhi, who sponsored the legislation with PAD’s contract. “Somehow, over the last five or six weeks, you all have had a change of heart, or you want to move the goal post.”
“You all have put us in a very difficult position by kind of putting the burden on us to navigate your anxiety about a (request for proposal) that you awarded,” he added.
Council member Alex Wan, who was the first to say publicly that the administration asked for council to hold off approving PAD’s contract, called the city’s decision to open up another procurement process “troubling.”
“All of a sudden there’s a special procurement — that’s when things started smelling funny,” he said. “And I’m not convinced that they haven’t stopped smelling funny.”
The contract was approved by Atlanta City Council members 11-2, with Howard Shook and Mary Norwood voting against.
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