“If you want a society without police we’ll give you one. Let it burn!” Florida politician Chuck Callesto reports the police walk out on Twitter. A leaked email confirms reports that Atlanta police officers “are refusing to answer the radio and walking off of the job.” Yahoo news is also reporting that “a number of Atlanta police officers did not show up for their Wednesday-night shifts.” The police were quick to offer a $500 bonus paid today, to every officer on their force.
BREAKING REPORT: [Leaked Email] "Atlanta police officers are refusing to answer the radio and walking off of the job. The county can go screw themselves. If you want a society without police we’ll give you one. Let it burn!"
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) June 17, 2020
Police walk out in Atlanta
Police officers in Atlanta, Georgia are reportedly staging an unofficial walk out and refusing to answer their radios. They are protesting murder charges against a fellow officer for doing his job.
Only hours after Fulton County district attorney Paul L. Howard said officer Garrett Rolfe “would be charged with felony murder,” Yahoo reports, “Atlanta police union spokesman Vince Champion told NBC News that officers had decided to walk off the job and go silent on radios to protest the decision.”
“This is not an organized thing, it’s not a blue flu, it’s not a strike, it’s nothing like that. What it actually is, is officers protesting that they’ve had enough and they don’t want to deal with it any longer.”
Police Department issues denial
The Atlanta Police Department put out a statement, calling the claims “inaccurate.” The department “is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift,” the police explained. “We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.”
But that isn’t what the Atlanta police scanner is saying. “We are not answering 911 calls right now due to personnel issues,” a police dispatcher told Yahoo.
It’s not actually a bribe, that would be illegal, but the Atlanta Police department is coming across with some cold hard cash as an incentive to get the officers back on the job. They announced on Thursday that they are “paying a $500 bonus to every Atlanta police officer today.” They will also be “purchasing 20 police cars to replace those that were destroyed in protests a few weeks ago.”