Atlanta police and corrections manpower shortages causing issues when transpirting prisoners to hospitals
Atlanta GA Nov 9 2021
Prisoners needing medical care are transported by either an ambulance or a law enforcement officer to Grady Memorial Hospital, which means that someone must stay with them at all times to prevent an escape.
Atlanta police, like many law enforcement agencies are extremely understaffed currently and it’s been a struggle to provide that service at the hospitals.
But the Atlanta city attorney said the problem of providing security coverage for suspects taken to Grady Memorial Hospital cannot be solved with unsworn security guards.
We can not put untrained and inexperienced guards on that detail.
The chief of corrections has been unable to place his own people at the hospital due to staffing as well.
The result has been officers who make an arrest have had to stay with that individual on the hospital floor often for an entire shift.
At times, three officers over a 24-hour period have been sidelined at the hospital and not patrolling for citizens.
Correction’s chief Elder Dancy is down manpower by approximately one-third because of officers leaving following a decision by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to close the downtown jail.
But it remains open, and a few dozen inmates remain.
The Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Department of Corrections are getting some help. Fulton Sheriff Parick Labat has begun sending his deputies to Grady to provide coverage.
No one knows how long this arrangement will last. It could be a few weeks or a few months an Atlanta police spokesperson said.
