The Policing Alternatives & Diversion (PAD) Initiative has expanded citywide to provide an immediate alternative to arrest for individuals committing violations commonly related to mental health needs, addiction, homelessness or extreme poverty.

On a chilly morning in March, Brittany Molinaro was working in her home office when about 10 a.m. she heard a knock at the door. She peeked out of the window to see an adult man on her doorstep crying… She scrolled through her phone and pulled up a number she had jotted down in January from the neighborhood Facebook page — a non-emergency number that residents could call instead of calling police.

Written by Moki Macias, PAD’s Executive Director

By investing in our communities, we can begin healing from the poisoned logic of incarceration — the idea that we can banish people rather than solve problems — that has failed us all. But non-police responders will only be as strong as the community resources that we can connect people to.

Police in Atlanta have an option not to arrest for certain low-level offenses. That message is being delivered to officers in every quadrant of the city.

In addition to the Community of Practice, the City and the Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) have partnered together to allow citizens in Zone 4, 5 and 6 to make referrals to ATL311 for non-emergency quality of life concerns related to mental health, substance use or extreme poverty. Referral services will be expanded across all zones in June 2021.

Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) was born in 2017 out of frustration over the frequency with which police arrest people for crimes of homelessness and poverty, such as public urination. By intervening before arrest, PAD can keep vulnerable community members out of jail for minor offenses and instead offer them support.

A program in Atlanta that offers an alternative to calling the police for non-emergency situations now allows residents to reach the service by simply dialing 311.

Moki Macias, PAD Executive Director, and Karlise Newman, PAD Harm Reduction team specialist, speak with Rose Scott about how the initiative aims to provide an alternative to arrests and incarceration.

The Atlanta Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative partners with the Atlanta Police Department to divert people subject to arrest. With PAD's help, Kendra Weaver, who spent years battling addiction and homelessness, was placed in housing and a drug treatment program.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Atlanta already has one alternative to jail. The Atlanta/Fulton County Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative (PAD) is a program for those whose arrests stem from substance use, mental illness, or extreme poverty.

An initiative that offers an alternative to calling the police for minor offenses is growing. It's called Atlanta Pre-Arrest Diversion Services or Atlanta PAD. The group helps keep vulnerable individuals out of the criminal justice system.

Five years ago, after activists defeated an Atlanta City Council proposal to banish convicted prostitutes, they teamed up with officials to create the Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative, which tries to keep people who commit nonviolent minor crimes like begging and prostitution out of jail.

Moki Macias is acutely aware of the Atlanta jail. She can see it from the window of her new office. Her goal is to keep people out of it.

Atlanta’s version of PAD has a harm reduction philosophy of meeting people where they are and even though the program is just finding its footing, proponents and advocates are committed to the success of its participants.