Atlanta Fire Chief Unveils New Vehicles, Response Plans

As Atlanta’s mayor and top public safety officials gathered in front of an empty Lenox Square mall Thursday morning to discuss their plans for a busy holiday season, near-freezing temperatures gave the occasion a midwinter feel.

Mayor Andre Dickens, police Chief Darin Schierbaum and fire Chief Rod Smith all seemed impervious to the cold as they talked about deploying new equipment and provided tips for the coming weeks. Their collective mood was cheerful and they did not shy away from questions about the fire department’s out-of-service engines or planned demonstrations against the city’s proposed public safety training center.

Standing in front of a line of gleaming new fire and police vehicles, Dickens noted that more than a million people visit Lenox Square each month, and even more are expected in November and December. He used the moment of high visibility to call attention to falling crime rates in Atlanta and a few non-police programs to which he credited the trend: his summer youth employment program, which got 5,000 teenagers jobs making $15 an hour; and the city’s nightlife division, which trains operators in de-escalation techniques, creating security plans and more.

Speaking in front of Lenox Square underscored the leaders’ focus on safety at shopping centers, which have seen some of the metro area’s most chaotic shootings in recent years. Last October, multiple shootings rocked Atlantic Station and led the mixed-use development to implement a curfew for teenagers and other new security policies. Lenox Square saw two shootings in 2021, including an incident in which a security guard was seriously injured when he was shot by two 15-year-olds who were later arrested.

Echoing Dickens, Schierbaum cheered a reduction in homicides and shootings in 2023. Police have recorded 114 homicides in the city so far this year, 22 fewer than at this point in 2022.

Despite the lower number of killings, “We still see too many individuals carrying guns who should not be carrying guns, or who are engaged in criminal activity that need to be put in courtrooms,” Schierbaum said.

The police chief introduced the aptly named “Operation Deep Freeze,” which he said is a continuation of his department’s summer crime reduction program. The operation involves a concerted effort to partner with other local and national agencies, from metro area sheriff’s offices to the FBI, to locate and apprehend people with active arrest warrants.

Schierbaum also spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about upcoming protests against the public safety training center, especially as police face additional demands during the holidays. Opponents of the training center have organized a four-day gathering near the construction site for the facility beginning Nov. 10. Organizers said it will culminate with a “day of direct action” on Nov. 13, according to the event’s website.

“We’re a large police agency,” the chief said. “We’ll make staffing adjustments and deployments as necessary to protect the First Amendment. Anyone who wants to protest peacefully, they have the full protection of the Atlanta Police Department they’ve always had. Individuals that decide to use violence and intimidation or property damage to try to make a point next week or stop construction of the training center, we have a plan for that, too.”

Smith spoke to the AJC about the fire department’s out-of-service engines and said two vehicles with mechanical issues would be returned to operation by next week. During Thursday’s news conference, he said all 36 of Atlanta’s fire stations would be operational during the holiday season, their busiest time of the year.

The fire truck shortage should be somewhat alleviated by five new rapid-response vehicles as well as a new emergency medical station in South Atlanta, which will house two ambulances operated by the fire and rescue department.

Medical calls are the most common type that come in for firefighters, Smith said, so more medical vehicles will free up fire engines for other emergencies. The new Quick Intervention Crew (QIC) units, which Smith said they pronounce as “quicks,” are smaller and nimbler than fire engines, and they only need two people to operate. The QICs are based on a full-sized pickup truck and have all the capabilities of an ambulance, except they cannot transport patients.

Because the QICs are based on a more widely available consumer truck platform, the department should be able to avoid some of the mechanical repair issues facing fire engines, which require specialty parts and service. The vehicles, which Smith said cost about $95,000 each, will continually move around the city and deploy to areas of high activity. According to Smith, don’t be surprised to see a shiny new QIC vehicle staged in the Lenox Square parking lot throughout the busy shopping season.

“We will be vigilant about making sure that people can shop, dine and be entertained across the city of Atlanta, whether it’s here at Lenox, over at Phipps (Plaza), whether it’s the Mall at West End, Greenbriar, Buckhead Village or Ponce City Market,” Dickens said. “We plan to make sure that you are safe, for customers as well as ... the employees. This year, we are being extremely vigilant at all of our shopping centers.”

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