Election 2026

Independent, source-first accountability

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Issue record

Public safety

What each candidate says on this issue, and what their own official record shows.

Campaign positions

What each campaign says.

Rick Jackson

Would give police more resources, end “revolving-door justice” and make Georgia first in deporting criminal illegal immigrants.

Keisha Lance Bottoms

Would expand state help for local police through the GBI, back universal background checks and a red flag law, and expand diversion for nonviolent cases.

Evidence timeline

What the record shows.

  1. official action

    Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

    Atlanta’s listed Police/Fire operating budgets rose 19.1% from FY2018 to FY2022, or 17.2% from her first adopted budget. Actual spending was not checked.

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    Bottoms said she increased police and fire budgets by nearly 20% over her term. Across Atlanta’s listed operating funds, the combined police and fire budget rose from $346.1 million in FY2018 to $412.2 million in FY2022, up 19.1%. Limit: Using FY2019, her first adopted budget, gives 17.2%. Her calculation is unspecified. This comparison excludes separate capital and grant schedules; actual spending was not checked.

  2. official action

    Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

    As mayor she expanded pretrial diversion citywide, and the council let her sign a deal for a county diversion center, which broke ground after she left office.

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    Her campaign says she would expand diversion and treatment for people in nonviolent cases. Her FY21 budget, passed in June 2020, expanded the city's pretrial diversion program citywide, the city's reform site says. By July 2021, police in every zone could send people to the Policing Alternatives and Diversion program instead of jail. On Nov. 1, 2021, the council authorized her to sign a deal with Fulton County for a diversion center, which she said would help people charged with minor, non-violent offenses. Limit: The city pages read here do not show her signing the county deal. Ground was broken on the center in April 2023, after she left office.

  3. official action

    Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

    In 2020 she set up a use-of-force advisory council whose members included lawyers, acted on 16 of its 33 recommendations, and hired a police research group to review policy.

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    Her campaign says she brought in leading civil rights attorneys and policing experts to advise the Atlanta police on use of force and de-escalation. In June 2020 she set up a use-of-force advisory council by administrative order and ordered new police rules, including de-escalation. The council's report says its members included lawyers, with co-chairs from Gideon's Promise and the Southern Center for Human Rights. On Nov. 18, 2020, she announced the city had retained the Police Executive Research Forum to review police policy and training. Limit: Her August 2020 orders acted on 16 of the council's 33 recommendations.

  4. official action

    Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

    Bottoms approved firefighter-pay funding and a plan targeting compression; police compression, payments, retention and a largest-ever ranking remain unchecked.

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    Bottoms said she delivered Atlanta’s largest raises for police and firefighters and addressed pay compression. Atlanta’s December 2019 plan committed $15.6 million over 3½ years; its announcement called this the most significant raise in 15 years. On January 27, 2020, Bottoms approved an ordinance authorizing up to $2.5 million in vacancy savings for firefighter pay. A May 2022 city presentation says the original plan targeted pay compression. Limit: This checks firefighter action, not police compression, payments, retention or a largest-ever ranking. The schedule continued through July 2023, after her term.

  5. official action

    Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

    In 2018 she proposed a police raise of about 30 percent over three years and the council funded the first $10 million; no record we read ranks it against earlier raises.

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    Full detail

    In the October 6 debate she said that as mayor she gave law enforcement the largest pay raise in Atlanta's history. In October 2018 she announced a plan to raise police pay, which her office called unprecedented; the city's reform site puts it at 30 percent over three years. On Oct. 15, 2018 the council voted 13-0 for the first $10 million. The ordinance, sponsored by council members, follows her proposal and plans raises of about $11 million a year through July 2021. Limit: No record we read compares this raise with earlier ones, so "largest in history" is not checked. We did not confirm that each later yearly raise was paid.

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Sources23 source records

How we use sources

  1. Rick Jackson for Governor, action planhttps://rickjackson.com/action-plan/

    Jackson for Governor, Inc. · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-23. His platform, about 1,400 words across 17 headings. It links a fuller nine-page plan (jackson-action-plan-pdf).

    candidate statement

    For: Rick Jackson: campaign position

  2. Keisha for Governor, issueshttps://www.keishaforgovernor.com/issues

    Keisha for Governor · Reviewed Sep 23, 2026

    Captured 2026-09-23. Her platform, in ten sections.

    candidate statement

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: campaign position; Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  3. Atlanta Press Club governor debate, October 12, 2026, about 13:02https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x8O5cq2I_k&t=782s

    Atlanta Press Club · Published Oct 12, 2026 · Reviewed Nov 1, 2026

    Paraphrase from one saved native-caption original. Budget passage at original indexes 397–399, overlapping locator 13:02.447–13:14.592; full public-safety answer checked. This is separate from the preceding firefighter-compression passage.

    candidate statement

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  4. City of Atlanta FY2019 Adopted Budget, printed 57–58 / PDF 59–60 (document)

    City of Atlanta · Reviewed Nov 1, 2026

    City of Atlanta, FY2019 Adopted Budget, printed pages 57–58 (PDF 59–60), and FY2022 Adopted Budget, printed pages 55–56 (PDF 57–58), Summary of Operating Budget by Fund and Department. Sum all listed Fire Services and Police Services rows in General, Airport Revenue, Water & Wastewater and Emergency Telephone funds. Solid Waste Police is $0 in FY2018 and FY2019 and absent from the FY2022 table; no amount is added for it. Exclude unassigned citywide Non-Departmental amounts and separate capital/grant schedules. Totals: $346,080,294 in inherited FY2018, $351,718,796 in first-adopted FY2019 and $412,181,823 in final-adopted FY2022; increases are 19.1000557% and 17.1907296%. FY2022 covers July 2021–June 2022, partly after her term ended. This defined comparison does not establish her own calculation, actual spending or inflation-adjusted resources. No single action date is assigned to the multiyear comparison.

    official legislative record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  5. City of Atlanta FY2022 Adopted Budget, printed 55–56 / PDF 57–58 (document)

    City of Atlanta · Reviewed Nov 1, 2026

    Summary of Operating Budget by Fund and Department, both complete pages. FY2022 planned Police/Fire operating total: $412,181,823. Separate capital/grant schedules and actual spending are not checked; FY2022 extends partly beyond Bottoms’s term.

    official legislative record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  6. Passage of FY21 Budgethttps://justicereform.atlantaga.gov/article/passage-of-fy21-budget-2

    City of Atlanta, One Atlanta criminal justice reform site · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    June 2020. Says her FY21 budget expanded the pretrial diversion program citywide.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  7. Policing Alternatives and Diversion Now Available Citywidehttps://justicereform.atlantaga.gov/article/policing-alternatives-and-diversion-now-available-citywide

    City of Atlanta, One Atlanta criminal justice reform site · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    The city's reform site, dated July 2021. Says officers in all police zones may divert people to PAD instead of jail. Its topic list also shows the diversion center's groundbreaking in April 2023.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  8. Atlanta City Council Authorizes Agreement to Establish Center for Diversion and Serviceshttps://web.archive.org/web/20211115100908/https://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2734/17

    Atlanta City Council, Council Communications · Published Nov 1, 2021 · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    The council's release of Nov. 1, 2021. Resolution 21-R-4118 authorizes the mayor to sign an agreement with Fulton County for a diversion center. Archived copy; the council's site blocks this desk.

    official legislative record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  9. City of Atlanta and Fulton County Announce Strategic Partnership to Develop Center for Diversion and Serviceshttps://www.fultoncountyga.gov/news/2021/11/05/city-of-atlanta-and-fulton-county-announce-strategic-partnership

    Fulton County Government · Published Nov 5, 2021 · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    Dated Nov. 5, 2021. The county board adopted its resolution on Nov. 3. Quotes Mayor Bottoms on helping people charged with minor, non-violent offenses.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  10. Keisha for Governor, track record: public safety and community supporthttps://www.keishaforgovernor.com/issues/housing

    Keisha for Governor · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    Read 2026-09-25. The detail page behind the public safety item on her track record page. The site files it at /issues/housing.

    candidate statement

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  11. Convening of Use of Force Advisory Councilhttps://justicereform.atlantaga.gov/article/convening-of-use-of-force-advisory-council-2

    City of Atlanta, One Atlanta criminal justice reform site · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    June 2020. She issued an administrative order to convene an advisory council on the city's use of force policies.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  12. Administrative Orders Related to Transforming APDhttps://justicereform.atlantaga.gov/article/administrative-orders-signed-2-3

    City of Atlanta, One Atlanta criminal justice reform site · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    June 2020. Her orders adopting use of force reforms, including de-escalation and a duty to intervene in unreasonable deadly force.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  13. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Issues Orders to Act Upon Use of Force Advisory Council's 45-day Recommendationshttps://web.archive.org/web/20210401192441/https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/13424/

    City of Atlanta, Mayor's Office of Communications · Published Aug 5, 2020 · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    Her office's release of Aug. 5, 2020. Seven administrative orders address 16 of the council's 33 recommendations. Archived copy; the city's site blocks this desk.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  14. Use of Force Advisory Council reporthttps://web.archive.org/web/20201017222322id_/https://www.atlantaga.gov/home/showdocument?id=47579

    City of Atlanta · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    The council's 2020 report, linked from the city's reform site. Lists its members, including co-chairs from Gideon's Promise and the Southern Center for Human Rights, and says they included lawyers. Archived copy; the city's site blocks this desk. sha256 e3aebe744bf0.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  15. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Announces Next Steps to Reform Public Safety in Atlantahttps://web.archive.org/web/20201119180447/https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/13489/672

    City of Atlanta, Mayor's Office of Communications · Published Nov 18, 2020 · Reviewed Sep 25, 2026

    Her office's release of Nov. 18, 2020. The city retained the Police Executive Research Forum for a "top to bottom" review of police policy and training. Archived copy; the city's site blocks this desk.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated record claim

  16. Atlanta Press Club Georgia governor event, October 12, 2026, at 12:43https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x8O5cq2I_k&t=763s

    Atlanta Press Club · Published Oct 12, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    Saved English native captions, 12:43–12:48. Statement paraphrased; no second independent transcript.

    candidate statement

    Atlanta Press Club Georgia governor event, October 12, 2026, 12:43–13:02

    Atlanta Press Club · Published Oct 12, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 30, 2026

    Native-caption paraphrase of adjacent largest-pay and compression statements, 12:43–13:02. The caption windows overlap; no second independent transcript. Firefighter action is checked separately from police compression and retention effects.

    candidate statement

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  17. Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Compensation, Fire Chief Roderick Smith, May 23, 2022, pages 3–5 (document)

    Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, Fire Chief Roderick Smith · Reviewed Oct 30, 2026

    Historical Perspective: studies submitted to then-Mayor Bottoms’s administration; city committed $15.6 million in December 2019 for firefighter pay over 3.5 years. Owner supplied the passage after opening the blocked document. Supports the commitment, not completed payments. On October 30, 2026, an independent agent read all five pages of the original PDF and visually checked pages 3–4. Page 4 describes the original plan as targeting compression and gives a January 2020–July 2023 schedule. Pages 2 and 5 separately describe Dickens administration proposals; those are not credited to Bottoms. This later agent read preserves the earlier owner-provided passage receipt. May 23 is the presentation date; online publication day is unestablished.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  18. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Announces Most Significant Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Compensation Raises in 15 Yearshttps://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/13194/672

    City of Atlanta · Reviewed Oct 22, 2026

    Owner supplied a screenshot of this announcement. It names Bottoms and the $15.6 million, three-and-a-half-year base-pay plan; its comparison is 15 years, not all city history. Exact publication day is not established by the supplied image. Announced paycheck dates are plans, not evidence of completed payments.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  19. Ordinance 19-O-1744, firefighter compensation, certified copy, pages 2 and 7 (document)

    Atlanta City Council · Reviewed Oct 30, 2026

    Atlanta Press Club, Georgia governor event, October 12, 2026, 12:43–13:02 (native-caption paraphrase); Ordinance 19-O-1744, Atlanta City Council, adopted January 21, 2020 and approved January 27, 2020, PDF pages 2 and 7; Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Compensation, Fire Chief Roderick Smith, May 23, 2022, pages 3–5; City of Atlanta, “Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Announces Most Significant Atlanta Fire Rescue Department Compensation Raises in 15 Years” (announcement; exact publication day not established). The ordinance authorizes up to $2.5 million from personnel-vacancy savings: $2.05 million General Fund and $450,000 Aviation. The mayor, Human Resources and Finance developed the proposal; council adoption and mayoral approval do not establish sole authorship or completed transfers or payments. Online publication date unestablished.

    official legislative record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  20. Atlanta News First governor debate, October 6, 2026 (at 36:01)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7CnmPxFCdw&t=2161s

    Atlanta News First · Published Oct 6, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    The host's full video of the town hall debate. Bottoms says that as mayor she gave law enforcement the largest pay raise in Atlanta's history. Described from YouTube's English captions of the video, read October 10, 2026; not quoted, because a second transcript to check the wording against was not available.

    candidate statement

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  21. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Announces Comprehensive Plan to Raise Compensation for Atlanta Policehttps://web.archive.org/web/20210411124535/https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/11729/672

    City of Atlanta, Mayor's Office of Communications · Published Oct 1, 2018 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    Her office's release. Calls the plan unprecedented and puts $10 million more into patrol and senior officers' pay by January 2019. Archived copy; the city's site blocks this desk.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  22. APD Pay Raisehttps://justicereform.atlantaga.gov/article/apd-pay-raise-2

    City of Atlanta, One Atlanta criminal justice reform site · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    The city's reform site, dated September 2018. Puts the police raise at 30 percent over three years.

    official office record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction

  23. Ordinance 18-O-1629, police payhttps://atlantacityga.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?ID=16358

    Atlanta City Council (legislative records) · Published Oct 15, 2018 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    The council's file. Sponsored by council members, it moves $10 million to police pay under the mayor's proposal and plans about $11 million more each year through July 2021. Adopted 13-0 on Oct. 15, 2018.

    official legislative record

    For: Keisha Lance Bottoms: Matches stated direction