Mayor Kelly Girtz announced new public safety spending in the wake of Laken Riley’s murder on Wednesday during a press conference at the Lexington Road police station where protesters attempted to shout him down.
Girtz said the Athens-Clarke County government will be expediting a $300,000 real-time crime center, and in a related move adding 24 cameras to high-crime and high-traffic areas. The county is also purchasing mobile heavy-duty surveillance trailers that can be deployed in response to crime trends and during major events like football games, as well as all-terrain vehicles allowing police to patrol nature trails. The county commission will vote on those proposals Tuesday, he said.
“We’re all deeply hurt,” Girtz said about Riley’s murder last Thursday. The 22-year-old was jogging near Lake Herrick when she was dragged off the trail and beaten to death. Police have arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, and charged him with Riley’s murder.
Ibarra is from Venezuela and crossed into the U.S. illegally before seeking asylum and being released, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. His immigration status prompted outcry from Republicans like U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and Gov. Brian Kemp.
Girtz denied that Athens is a “sanctuary city,” as many Republicans have suggested. Although there is no legal definition of a sanctuary city, Georgia law prohibits cities from becoming one, and ACC is required to file paperwork with the Department of Audits each year certifying that it is not a sanctuary city in order to receive state funding. A resolution the commission passed in 2019 welcoming immigrants regardless of their documentation and denouncing white supremacy was prompted by violence against immigrants during the Trump administration, Girtz said, but it did not make Athens a sanctuary city.
“I caution you not to conflate immigration and crime,” he said. “The data suggests the two are not connected.”
As far as the border is concerned, Girtz placed the blame on Congress and five presidential administrations that have failed to enact immigration reform legislation since the Reagan years in the 1980s.
A small group of protesters kept interrupting Girtz with shouts of, “Liar!” and “Resign!”
“I was a high school teacher for a lot of years, and I got better behavior out of them,” Girtz quipped at one point.
One protester, who identified himself as Athens resident James DePaola, told Flagpole that he came to the press conference “to defend our Constitution and rebuke our lawless government.”
Asked whether he would apologize, Girtz responded, “We are all deeply sorry for this tragedy. Responsibility for this crime rests solely upon the perpetrator.”
Girtz also highlighted past crime-fighting efforts, as well as jobs and housing programs that he said help to reduce crime. Those include a ballistics identification device that has generated 88 leads since July 2023; a salary bump for officers to $53,733 the first year; take-home police cars for officers who reside outside of Clarke County; 30 new surveillance cameras that can pan, tilt and zoom; pay flexibility for the district attorney to hire more prosecutors; and a “cadet corps” that trains high-school students to become police officers.
In addition, Girtz pointed to ACC spending $50 million on the Bethel Homes redevelopment, along with other affordable housing projects; an infusion of funding into Clarke County School District programming, the Boys & Girl’s Club and various summer camps; the “neighborhood leaders” program that connects residents with services; job training programs and new employers like Meissner, a health-care company that will employ 1,700 people at a variety of educational levels.
“If we’re here today to talk about public safety, we need to talk about all the things that make up public safety,” Girtz said.
Statistics provided by ACC show that overall crime fell by 2% last year and violent crime was down 7% while arrests rose 16%. Murders routinely topped double digits through the 1990s but now average about half a dozen a year.
“We stack up favorably” against other SEC college towns when it comes to crime, Girtz said. Athens ranks in the middle of the pack or lower for various types of crimes, according to FBI statistics. It has a crime rate of 66 per 1,000 residents—about half of Baton Rouge’s 123 per 1,000 residents. On violent crime, Athens ranks sixth out of 14.
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