In order to provide safe and livable communities, civic association, public safety officers and local government must work together to monitor, report and weed out criminal elements when they develop. Regular information reporting for civic associations should be a standard practice within each police zone.

In addition, I authored and hope to pass soon the "Public Safety Improvement Plan", which will address many concerns within our public safety department such as funding for needed equipment, pension increases, and retention of police officers. The legislation authorizes the collection of revenues to be deposited in an off budget account for the purpose of capital expenditures of Atlanta's public safety responsibilities/departments (Police, Fire, and Corrections). Needed equipment, supplies, repairs and other necessities would be covered under this legislation.

The importance of this fund is that it would allow the City's current public safety budget, which is nearly 50 percent of our total annual budget (each year) to be available for more competitive salaries and higher pensions. While Atlanta has made significant strides in salary competitiveness and leads in dollars per salary step for education and expertise, we are last in retirement benefits.

Giving Public Safety Officers to resources needed to protect our citizens, and the incentive to invest in long-term law enforcement service is key to providing effective public safety services and keeping our city safe.