A Georgia Senate proposal would require some people previously convicted of violent crimes to serve at least five years in prison if caught committing another crime with a gun. The bill is part of a broader crime crackdown led by Republicans but supported by some Democrats.
Alex Murdaugh's lawyers say he can't afford to buy new underwear or pay his phone bill after his accounts were frozen so victims won't lose their chance to collect settlements.
Bibb County sheriff’s officials last week unveiled a portable, solar-powered security camera that can, from 25 feet up, scan crowds and zoom in on trouble should it arise at public events.
The Waukesha police chief identified Darrell E. Brooks as the only suspect in the tragic vehicular attack that killed at least five people and injured 48 others on Sunday.
The Atlanta mayoral election is headed to a runoff. Whoever ultimately takes the top job will face a sharp increase in crime in the city that's accelerated during the pandemic. On the latest Georgia Today podcast, we hear about the impact of the crime wave on communities across Atlanta, and what's driving it, with a Georgia criminologist who himself became a shooting victim.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke in a press conference Tuesday morning about how COVID-19 is causing a spike in crime which the city hasn’t seen in decades, including a recent stabbing murder of a woman and her dog in Atlanta's Piedmont Park.
The Georgia man accused of killing eight people at three Atlanta-area massage businesses pleaded guilty in a Cherokee Court room on Tuesday. Robert Aaron Long signed a plea deal hoping for life without parole in the first four shooting deaths.
Thursday on Political Rewind: Speaker of the House David Ralston has unveiled a sweeping $75 million proposal to confront escalating crime, especially in metro Atlanta. The plan includes bonuses for local law enforcement officers and an increase in funding for law enforcement agencies — as well as for an expansion of mental health services. Democratic House members said they’ll work with Ralston on his plan even as they recognize it’s part of a GOP effort to use crime-fighting as a wedge issue in the 2022 election cycle.
Meanwhile, the guessing game over the possibility of a big-name Republican emerging to challenge U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues this week, and the effect of COVID on U.S. life expectancy is discussed.
Monday on Political Rewind: Sen. Amy Klobuchar is in Atlanta today to hold a field hearing on the impact of Georgia’s new election law on voters of color. It’s unlikely that any Republicans on the committee will attend the hearing, which Klobuchar hopes will shine a spotlight on the need to pass a federal voting rights act.
Meanwhile, Georgia Republicans are doing a bit of counterprogramming today. At the same time of the Klobuchar event, GOP House leaders are holding a committee hearing to look at rising violent crime in Atlanta. And Gov. Brian Kemp has scheduled a conference call with reporters to defend the new election law.
Mental health counselor Gloria Cissé facilitated the first Macon forum on solutions to violence. She has advice for those attending the second: "Come not looking to win, but to look for solutions that benefit all of us."
Thursday on Political Rewind: President Joe Biden laid out a strategy for combatting spiraling gun violence in cities across the country, calling for cities to tailor their own plans for using $350 billion from the federal COVID Relief Fund to fight violent crime. The proposal marks a change from calls by liberals to shift funding from police departments in the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court is addressing cases that deal with impactful subjects such as Obamacare and voting laws and procedures. What are the potential implications and repercussions here in Georgia?
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms grabbed headlines with her announcement she won’t seek reelection. Her first term has seen a host of crises, including a cyberattack, the coronavirus pandemic, weeks of racial unrest and a sharp rise in crime. Georgia Today host Steve Fennessy and guest Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy explore what led to Bottoms' decision, and how the city has changed on her watch.
Federal prosecutors charged three Army soldiers of lawfully purchasing 91 guns from licensed dealers in Tennessee and Kentucky, and then transferring them to Chicago.
