The killing of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks by an Atlanta police officer on Friday night rekindled the city's protests against racism and police brutality over the weekend and, on Monday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced new rules in an attempt to reform the Atlanta Police Department.
Speaking to reporters, Bottoms laid out a series of administrative orders that would require officers to use de-escalation tactics before resorting to physical force and report all instances of deadly force to the city's citizens review board. Officers will also be required to intervene if they see another officer using force that is "beyond reasonable" and report that use of force to a supervisor.
"We understand that this is the beginning of a great deal of work that lies ahead of us to make sure that we do all we can do to protect our communities," Bottoms said. "It is very clear our police officers should be guardians and not warriors within our communities."
Bottoms also spoke specifically about Brooks' death, which was ruled a homicide by the Fulton County medical examiner. The police officer who shot the lethal bullets has since been fired, and Atlanta Chief of Police Erika Shields resigned Saturday.
"We saw the worst happen on Friday night with Mr. Brooks. It angered me and it saddened me beyond words," Bottoms said. "This is the third time in two weeks that I spent the better part of the day looking at body cam footage related to the excessive use of force."
