City council OKs church improvements ► PAGE 3 J a n u a r y 2 5 , 2 0 2 4 | A p p e n M e d i a . c o m | A n A p p e n M e d i a G r o u p P u b l i c a t i o n | 5 0 ¢ | Vo l u m e 3 , N o . 4
Questions surround ‘do not respond list’ cited by police chief
City focuses on youth in MLK Day observance By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A dispute involving police and a manager at the Atlanta North Metro Coca-Cola Bottling Company on Dunwoody Place has sparked questions about the existence of a “do not respond” list at the 911 Center in Sandy Springs. While Police Chief Kenneth DeSimone explicitly references the list in a Nov. 2023 email to the president of the Atlanta Police Foundation, interviews and records obtained by Appen Media indicate the city has no such thing. Late last year, Sandy Springs Police officers were instructed to patrol companies that support the Atlanta Police Foundation after a Nov. 13 clash between law enforcement and several hundred opponents of Atlanta’s proposed public safety training center in DeKalb County. That assignment went sour Nov. 14 when a Sandy Springs patrolman reported in an email that while conducting a business check at the Coca-Cola facility at 8250 Dunwoody Place, he was asked to leave the premises. Through an open records request, Appen Media received emails detailing the incident through the department’s chain of command.
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SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The longest-running celebration in Sandy Springs, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, has seen several iterations over the years. Since the city incorporated in 2005, it has sponsored a community MLK-themed event. A decade ago, the event included a speech from a civil rights leader and a presentation of the Sandy Springs’ Humanitarian Award. While the MLK Day events were great for the community, Mayor Rusty Paul said the city opted to shift the focus of the event to youth. To kick off the event Jan. 15, Paul spoke to a packed room inside the Studio Theatre at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center on
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul addresses the crowd in the Studio Theatre Jan. 15 before a showing of the 1999 Emmy-nominated film, “Our Friend, Martin.” Paul said the annual event is designed to be an educational opportunity for youth in the community.
Galambos Way. For him, the Civil Rights Movement is not a history lesson but a part of his life. “I lived it,” Paul said. Growing up in Birmingham during the 1950s and ’60s, Paul saw the push for equal rights and justice for Black people firsthand. “It’s important to learn from that history and be better because of it,” he said. Paul remembers taking the bus with his grandmother to shop in downtown Birmingham. He recalled a memory of Black people giving up their seats and moving to the back of the bus for him and his grandmother. He also remembers the day King was shot in Memphis. “This is one of our efforts
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It’s important to learn from that history and be better because of it” RUSTY PAUL Sandy Springs Mayor