UPDATE 06/18/2020 @ 1:17 am EST: Scanner talk indicates that Zone 6 is removing firearms from the precinct and then falling back. Multiple people were witnessed ‘creeping around’ the precinct with masks, according to the scanner dialogue.
UPDATE 06/18/2020 @ 1:05 am EST: Protesters are apparently on their way to Zone 6 precinct. Officers are currently being advised to remove any items from the location that they want to keep.
Original Article:
ATLANTA, GEORGIA — For some residents in parts of Atlanta, help is now more than a few minutes away as officers walked off the job mid-shift after learning about felony murder charges brought against an Atlanta officer after an encounter with a suspect last week.
The head of Atlanta’s police union confirmed Wednesday that officers from the Atlanta Police Department in Zones 3 and 6 walked off the job Wednesday afternoon.
Vince Champion, southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers, said that police officers had stopped answering calls midshift, in response to charges against Officer Garrett Rolfe who is accused of murdering Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
“The union, we would never advocate this. We wouldn’t advocate a blue flu,” Champion said. “We don’t know the numbers. Apparently we’re learning that command staff are asking outlying counties for support and aren’t getting it.”
via decaturish.com
According to a spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department, the stories of walk-offs are incorrect.
“Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate,” the spokesperson said. “However, the department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call-outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations and remain able to respond to incidents throughout the city.”
Someone isn’t reporting facts as accurately as they should be, apparently.
I've been listening to Zone 6 Atlanta Police radio traffic for the last hour. There are 15 – 20 minute periods of absolute silence amid reports of officer walkouts. This clip was shared with @CherylPreheim by a police source. It's from Zone 3. The code 69 is Person With a Gun. pic.twitter.com/hkmbC5VF0Q
— Brendan Keefe (@BrendanKeefe) June 18, 2020
You can listen to the Zone 6 radio traffic here, and let me tell you, it’s pretty quiet.
Just a few minutes ago (around 1:00 am EST), the scanner broadcast the following message:
“We are not answering 911 calls due to personnel issues” -Zone 6 Officer…Yikes #zone6 #blueflu
— Justin (@KeepPounding923) June 18, 2020
We’ll be checking up on this later. Updates will be at the top of this article.
