Kari Mackey is an associate director in the Carter Center’s Rule of Law Program.
I’m an Atlanta-area taxpayer, and I don’t want my local police officers to spend their limited resources responding to calls related to extreme poverty, mental health, or problematic substance use — for example, public urination.
My fellow community members agree: 71% of respondents to a recent survey commissioned by The Carter Center expressed support for sending unarmed specialists rather than traditional police to deal with certain nonviolent incidents.
The Carter Center is looking at whether such alternative responses to policing can benefit people struggling with difficult issues like extreme poverty and mental health concerns. Instead of becoming trapped in a cycle of arrest and incarceration, these individuals could be connected with needed social services.
A series of social media ads were designed to spread awareness of Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative.
Our partner in this work is Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative, known as PAD, a local nonprofit funded by the city to provide solutions outside the legal system. In addition to two-person teams who can respond to calls in the community, the group is a partner in a recently opened diversion center with many resources under one roof.
What is the Carter Center’s role in this project? We have three goals: First, increase awareness of policing alternatives in Atlanta, like PAD. In our survey, 77% of respondents did not know PAD existed. If, for example, a person is to call Atlanta’s 311 service line to request PAD’s support instead of police through 911 when a family member is experiencing a mental health crisis that does not involve weapons, that option needs to be known.
Second, we want to assist PAD in sharing the data they collect. While we believe that connecting people to the services they need is necessary no matter the cost, the program might receive more community buy-in if the reach and impact of their work is better demonstrated through data.
Third, ultimately, we would like other cities to learn from the Atlanta experience and apply the lessons at home. All communities, large and small, can consider responding to individuals in crisis with compassion instead of arrest.
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