City of Atlanta to invest $4.5 million in the PAD Initiative

April 21st, 2022

Moki Macias, the executive director of Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), and Chyna Quarker, a referral manager for PAD, return to “Closer Look” to provide an update about the initiative. (Photo courtesy of PAD)

Moki Macias, the executive director of Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), says the initiative is a pathway, not a destination.

The PAD Initiative, birthed from a pilot program in 2017, serves as a diversion program that aims to provide an alternative to arresting people committing violations related to mental illness, addiction, homelessness or extreme poverty.

Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens recently announced a $4.5 million investment to expand PAD’s operational hours to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On Thursday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Macias and Chyna Quarker, a referral manager for PAD, returned to the program to discuss several topics, including the city’s investment in PAD, the criminalization of mental illness and the nonprofit’s ongoing response since its citywide expansion in 2021.

“The number of calls that come in during the hours we are available — frankly, the number of arrests that are still occurring in the hours that we are available — we haven’t even scratched the surface of what we could do, even within the current hours,” explained Macias.