Atlanta halts homeless encampment sweeps, reviews procedures following death of resident

Atlanta City Council called for a moratorium on homeless encampment clearings until the Atlanta Continuum of Care completes a review of their practices and procedures. This resolution follows the death of a Cornelius Taylor, an unhoused resident of Atlanta who was killed during a sweep.

Taylor’s death has sparked outrage from the community and his family. The resolution put forward by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari would require the Atlanta CoC to review and update procedures and share their findings with the public before another sweep can occur.

Bakhtiari said the CoC also needs more case workers on staff to meet the needs of the city’s unhoused residents.

“If we had had them, then Cornelius would have been housed,” Bakhtiari said. “It shouldn't have taken a year, a year of outreach and him not to be housed. And if anyone tells you he didn't want to leave, that has nothing to do with it. I don't care. I don't care if he was an addict. I don't care if he was struggling with addiction. Everybody in this room is struggling with something.”

Jeremy Ponds is with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. During public comment at the council meeting, he said Taylor died on the street behind their national office and they’re considering his death a murder.

“We are all one paycheck away from being in this situation,” Ponds said. “Poverty, aside from gun violence, is one of the highest forms of violence committed on a person in this nation. Not just racial injustice, but economic injustice is a very critical situation in our nation.”

The Atlanta Continuum of Care oversees the annual Point in Time Count of the city’s unhoused residents and ongoing outreach. Bakhtiari said there have been issues with the Atlanta CoC meeting standards set by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development in the past.

“By HUD requirements the numbers are supposed to be shared with us by May 10," Bakhtiari said. "We didn't get the numbers until June. Still has not been presented to council. We still do not know what happened and why we got the data late, and we still haven't gotten the presentation and there’s supposed to be another PIT count this month.”

In 2024, the Atlanta CoC received $14.5 million from HUD and another $4.6 million from the city of Atlanta.