Atlanta City Council creates Edgewood Corridor Public Safety Task Force after mass shooting

The Atlanta City Council on Aug. 5 unanimously approved a resolution establishing an Edgewood Corridor Public Safety Task Force to coordinate short-term interventions and longer-term strategies intended to reduce violence and improve public safety along Edgewood Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward and Sweet Auburn neighborhoods.

The task force was proposed after a July 8 mass shooting on Edgewood Avenue that “resulted in the death of 1 person [and] serious injuries to 10 others,” according to the resolution. Council member Liliana Bakhtiari introduced the measure; Council member Andrea L. Boone seconded it. The council then voted to send the approved task force to the mayor’s office posthaste. The final recorded vote on both adoption and immediate transmittal was 13-0.

The resolution directs the task force to partner with businesses, neighborhood associations, law enforcement and other governmental entities to develop a “comprehensive plan to deter crime and enhance public safety.” Members named in the resolution include the chief operating officer (or designee), the police chief (or designee), the council members for Districts 1 and 2 (or their designees), District 5’s council member (or designee), and representatives from the Old Fourth Ward Neighborhood Association, Old Fourth Ward business groups and the Auburn Church Collaborative. The task force will be staffed by one unilateral appointment of the chief operating officer and one unilateral appointment by the District 5 council member.

The resolution requires the task force to meet at least six times and to present findings, recommendations and proposed safety protocols to the full council within 30 business days of its final meeting. The task force will sunset Dec. 31, 2025, unless council acts otherwise.

Council members framed the action as a combination of immediate and structural response. The resolution text cites the city’s prior use of multiagency collaborations in other neighborhoods and directs the new body to “center equity and community voices” while pursuing both short-term interventions and systemic change.

The council did not specify budgetary allocations for the task force in the resolution; rather, it sets membership, timeline and reporting requirements and directs the mayor’s office to receive the item and help operationalize it. The council’s vote followed public comments from community members demanding a prompt, visible response after the shooting.

The council clerk recorded the motion to approve as moved by Council member Liliana Bakhtiari and seconded by Council member Andrea L. Boone. The motion to transmit the adopted resolution to the mayor’s office posthaste also passed 13-0.

The task force’s first steps will be the appointments, scheduling of the required meetings and a report back to the council. The 30-business-day reporting requirement means the council expects the task force to deliver initial recommendations in the fall; further policy or budget actions would require later votes by the council.