Zone 5 Commander Announces 'Forced' Retirement

A major who heads Old Fourth Ward and Downtown patrols within the Atlanta Police Department announced his sudden retirement — saying he was forced to leave his job for criticizing a department proposal to stop patrols in the Midtown neighborhood.

Major Khirus Williams, commander of Zone 5, shared the news Tuesday night and said he was "forced into retirement," according to an email circulating among neighborhood safety advocates.

Williams' announcement comes on the heels of a to convert officers of the to beat officers who only respond to 911 calls.

It also comes as the APD is to equalize work volumes and increase police response times.

With the Midtown Mini Precinct proposal, Williams expressed his concerns about the proposal in an April 20 email to community leaders. In the email, he urged residents to go to the police chief to voice objections to the changes.

"As a result of this e-mail, which was intended to protect Midtown's best interest, I have been forced into retirement," Williams said in the email that announced his retirement, effective May 3. "It has been an honor to serve you."

Williams did not immediately respond to an e-mail request Tuesday night seeking comment.

"The APD is thankful for Major Williams' many years of dedicated service. We wish him well," department spokesman Carlos Campos wrote in an e-mail Tuesday night to Midtown Patch. He declined to address Williams' contention that he was pushed into retirement.

Some community leaders are upset about the news.

"There is going to be a huge uprising in Zone 5. You can count on that," Peggy Denby, president of the Midtown Ponce Security Alliance, said Tuesday night at the regular meeting of Neighborhood Planning Unit-E. 

"He was a policeman for the people," Denby said. She said the alliance would write a letter to Police Chief George Turner to express how Williams has improved public safety in the neighborhood.

Members of the NPU-E board voted to look at, and possibly support, the alliance's position in the letter.

"I don't want to see [Williams] go anywhere," Penelope Cheroff, chair of NPU-E, said after the meeting. "He's just been wonderful."