(The Center Square) — State officials confirmed Georgia taxpayers are on the hook for $1.3 million to build a new Georgia State Patrol post on the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta’s Buckhead community.
State lawmakers included funding for the post, which officials say should help make the Buckhead community safer, in the fiscal 2024 budget.
The state patrol confirmed it plans to assign 12 troopers to the 1,750-square-foot facility, to be built near the property’s entrance. Construction on the new post is expected to start next year.
“The patrol post will not only improve response times to incidents in and around the City of Atlanta but also improve coordination between state and local law enforcement,” House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, said in an announcement.
Safety has been a hot-button — and sometimes controversial — topic in the trendy section of Atlanta. Earlier this year, state lawmakers killed a push to de-annex the Buckhead community from Atlanta and create a new city.
In May, the Buckhead Safety Alliance announced the launch of security patrols using off-duty police officers. The patrols will provide additional security on select corridors in Buckhead — such as Northside Parkway and Howell Mill, Peachtree, Roswell and Piedmont roads — selected in collaboration with Atlanta police.
“Security patrols in our community’s commercial corridors were identified by the Buckhead Public Safety Task Force as one of the most important actions we could take to make us safer,” District 8 Council member Mary Norwood said in a May news release.
The alliance was formed as a partnership between Buckhead organizations and law enforcement entities, including the Atlanta Police Department.
