The Athens-Clarke County Commission will weigh public safety investments at a potentially contentious meeting on Tuesday, more than a week after nursing student Laken Riley was killed on the University of Georgia’s campus.
Reflecting the polarized response to the slaying, two groups of demonstrators plan to gather in front of city hall half an hour ahead of the 6 p.m. commission meeting. “Make Athens Safe Again” said it will hold a rally at the same time that “The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement” will hold a “unity vigil.”
Athens has become a focal point of the national debate on immigration after police arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra and charged him with murder on Feb. 23, the day after Riley’s body was found in a wooded area near UGA’s intramural fields. Authorities say Ibarra, a Venezuelan, entered the U.S. unlawfully in 2022.
Mayor Kelly Girtz, speaking last week at the Athens-Clarke County police department, defended local officials’ handling of crime and immigration enforcement. He was frequently interrupted by demonstrators, some of whom called for his resignation.
“I empathize with the anger and frustration so many are feeling right now,” said Girtz last Wednesday, when he outlined proposed new public safety measures.
The proposal includes completing a real-time crime center, increased and improved camera technology in areas high in traffic and crime areas, and the purchase of heavy-duty surveillance trailers and all-terrain vehicles.
The cost of the new investments is at least $525,000, according to documents provided by Girtz.
The University of Georgia announced $7.3 million in campus safety measures last week.
Athens resident Laurie Waters Camp organized the “Make Athens Safe Again” event. As of noon Monday, 77 people on Facebook said they planned to attend and more than 500 said they were interested.
Camp held a sign advertising the rally at Girtz’s press conference last week. Camp grew up in Athens, attended UGA and taught for the Clarke County Schools district for nearly 30 years.
“We need political leaders who are not going to put their own personal agendas ahead of our safety,” Camp said.
She said she objected to a 2019 resolution Girtz signed in support of immigrants regardless of documentation status. The resolution “stirred a fire in me,” she said. “This is not right.”
Girtz said last week that responsibility for Riley’s slaying “rests solely upon the perpetrator.”
In Athens-Clarke County, with a population of roughly 130,000, murders have been in the single digits every year since 2009. Overall crime was down 2% in 2023 from the year before, including a 7% drop in violent crime, while arrests increased 16%, according to the county. Before last week, UGA’s campus hadn’t seen a homicide since 1996.
Some county residents and campus groups say Riley’s tragic death has been unfairly politicized, fanning xenophobia.
The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement encouraged people to bring flowers ahead of Tuesday’s commission meeting. It said in a post on Instagram that the gathering aimed “to show the world that the way Athens will make it through this tragedy is with love not hate.”
Athens-Clarke police Lt. Jody Thompson said police “are not expecting any issues” Tuesday. But Thompson added “there will be additional resources in consideration for the large number expected.”
The proposed public security plan mainly aims to accelerate earlier initiatives. The first phase of the real-time crime center was established last year and allows officers access to a system of public and private cameras during in-progress crimes and heavily-attended events.
The crime center will be staffed on each shift “so that we can rapidly pursue cases,” Girtz said last week. The county’s police department recently installed more than 30 new cameras with pan, tilt and zoom capabilities in the downtown district and is in the process of ordering 24 additional cameras.
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