DARC, short for "Defund APD, Refund Communities," is a coalition of Atlanta citizens dedicated to the goal of defunding the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and reinvesting its budget into public services for local communities.
The org has released a public letter addressed to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta City Council, asking that they take a public stand against House Bill 286.
This bill, which has already passed in the Georgia state legislature and is on its way to the Governor's desk to be signed into law, would restrict local governments from cutting police budgets by more than 5%.
According to DARC, it's important that our city leaders speak out against State legislation that infringes on the power of locally elected officials, and restricts their ability to reduce local police budgets.
"It is imperative that we can rely on our local officials to stand up for our most vulnerable citizens and preserve decision-making power that allows us to reimagine public safety," the letter reads.
Despite the likeliness of HB 286 being passed into law, Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Mariah Parker pointed out on Twitter that the final version of the bill is pretty much toothless, explaining that local police budgets can still be reduced by more than 5%, as long as there are public hearings and it's advertised publicly.