Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation
Atlanta, Georgia
BCJI Funding Year: FY2021
BCJI Awardee: County of Fulton
Research Partner: Applied Research Services
Focus Area: Fairburn Mays, Atlanta and Red Oak, South Fulton
Challenges: Violent Crime, Community Redevelopment, Gang Violence, Homicide, Police, Community Relations
Note: As of Fiscal Year 2020, the Community-Based Crime Reduction (CBCR) Grant has been renamed the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Grant. Grantee sites from Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 were onboarded under the CBCR name, while those from Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021 were onboarded under the BCJI name.
Neighborhood Characteristics
Fulton County is the largest county in the state of Georgia with a population of more than a million residents (1,075,472). Its largest city and capital, Atlanta, is where homicides are historically high and driven by gang activities. The Georgia Gang Investigators Association (GGIA) estimates between 70 and 80 percent of all violent crimes and property crimes are gang-connected. In a sampling of 112 homicide cases in the Major Case Unit, at least 30 are linked to gang violence. The Major Case Division has another 179 unindicated homicide cases which the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office expects to find a similar or higher percentage of gang connection.
The Atlanta police investigated 70 homicide cases in 2021, a 58% increase from the previous year. This crime wave followed a historically deadly 2020 when authorities investigated 157 homicide cases — the most in more than two decades. The homicide rate in Fulton County is also on track to break the 2020 record. Reporting from the Fulton County Medical Examiner reveals that the current homicide rate for Fulton County is up 68% since 2018.
Fairburn Mays and Red Oak were typical 1950’s developments in southwest metro Atlanta. However, in response to the 1960’s civil rights and desegregation laws, white families in both communities chose to move rather than integrate. Over the 1960’s and 1970’s, roughly 160,000 whites left the city of Atlanta. “White flight” drained the areas of a middle-class tax base and business tax revenue, creating a dearth of funds for community investment over the next 50 years.
Fairburn Mays is also tarnished by dilapidated homes and buildings, overgrown vacant lots, and uncollected litter, signaling to gangs that ‘no one cares.’ Since Fairburn Mays is located outside of 1-285, it is often overlooked for city revitalization projects.
In 2017, the City of South Fulton was formed by combining communities like Red Oak in unincorporated areas of Fulton County. The Red Oak community has many boarded-up houses and shuttered small commercial buildings along Roosevelt Highway, leading to a high rate of vacant housing. Despite these challenges, Red Oak has retained important assets which could spur redevelopment. With such a short history and COVID crisis, the new City of South Fulton has not had time to accumulate a reserve to invest in community revitalization.
Planning Phase
Using the four pillars of the grant, the Fulton County Community Collaboration identified these SMART objectives and subsequent strategies:
Create lasting cross-sector community coalitions that engage criminal justice partners and residents by identifying problems, selecting strategies, and implementing solutions.
Foster trust between law enforcement and residents by connecting residents to a ‘community of services’ and involving law enforcement only when appropriate.
Engage the business community located along the interstate, highways, and exits. Invite them to be a part of the coalition.
Reduce, suppress, and deter violent crime by working with ARS to examine crime drivers and determine focus areas. Use data and evidence-based models to successfully investigate and prosecute gang enterprises.
Deter at-risk youth engaged with or at risk of joining the gang enterprise in focus areas by providing diversion programs and in-depth wrap-around services to the at-risk youth and their families led by criminal justice partners.
Revitalize blighted property, focusing on government-owned land in focus areas to start a domino of community redevelopment projects efforts.
Encourage apartment complex and property owners’ (both nuisance and regular) compliance with local safety and zoning ordinance and incorporate Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED).
Other Key Partners
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the Credible Messenger Program of the United States Attorney’ Office, Siloam Church International, the Friends of Collier Heights Park, the Multi-Agency Criminal Enterprise Task Force, Atlanta Police Department, City of South Fulton Police Department
This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2018-BJ-BX-K035 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.
