ATLANTA POLICE CHIEF ANNOUNCES NEW NARCOTICS UNIT |

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the worst scandal to hit
the Atlanta Police Department in his four years as leader, Chief
Richard Pennington announced that the department's newly revamped
anti-drug section is "the best-trained narcotics unit in the Southeast."

With Mayor Shirley Franklin by his side, Pennington said the Nov. 21,
2006, police killing of Kathryn Johnston, 92, in her home on the
city's northwest side was a tragedy that "tore at the heart of the
community" and caused an overhaul of police training and procedures
to ensure such a thing doesn't happen again.

Even as Pennington spoke, lawyers for Johnston's family were readying
a suit against the chief, the mayor, the city and the police officers
directly involved in the shooting.

They were set to file their suit this morning.

Police had raided the house on Neal Street with sketchy information
provided by an informant.

They used a "no-knock" search warrant, meaning they could enter the
house without warning.

A fearful Johnston apparently thought the police were criminals and
brought out an old gun to stop the intruders. She fired one shot and missed.

Police fired multiple times, killing her and wounding other officers.

The fiasco caused national headlines and led to a federal
investigation of Atlanta police, and an almost year-long hiatus on
police efforts to shut down drug houses in Georgia's largest city.

The reborn unit -- doubled from 15 officers to 30 -- has been up and
running since the first week of October, Pennington said.

Franklin said the botched drug raid, in which Johnston was fatally
shot and at least some of the officers participating tried to cover
up the crime, was "a horrible night for the Johnston family, for our
community and for our Police Department" but her administration was
"well on the way to restoring trust for the Police Department, trust
that was fractured last year."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Johnston's relatives and their supporters
did not appear to believe such a restoration was under way.

At a news conference in front of Johnston's boarded-up home, Markel
Hutchins, an Atlanta minister who is serving as the family's
spokesman, said the family was glad to see the Police Department
changes, but they want more.

"We are encouraged by the steps," Hutchins said. "We have a long way to go."

Johnston's family was not present at the news conference, but
Hutchins said they want the city to provide them with a "substantial
cash settlement," rename Neal Street after Johnston, and preserve her
house as a memorial to what happened.

They also want an apology from the mayor, he said. Hutchins said
Franklin has never tried to contact the family.

Asked if she felt the city was responsible for Johnston's death,
Franklin said, "I apologized then and I will continue to apologize
for this tragedy."

At his news conference at police headquarters, Pennington detailed
his overhaul of the narcotics unit, including replacing everyone in
the entire unit and putting the new officers through extensive
training from outside police agencies.

Other APD narcotics changes include:

* "No-knock" search warrants must be approved by a major.

* Search warrants must be approved by a lieutenant.

* Drugs seized must be field-tested.

* Officers conducting raids will wear special uniforms, not street clothes.

* Narcotics unit officers will be interviewed annually and given
random drug tests.

* Informants receiving money for information will have to be paid in
the presence of a supervisor.

The head of the new narcotics unit, Lt. William Trivelpiece, said
"there is a lot more structure and layered supervision" in the new procedures.

Hoping to improve the department's frayed relations with the
community, Pennington announced he and his staff would attend a
special church service for Johnston this evening in the English
Avenue neighborhood where the shooting happened.

Hutchins said he and Johnston family supporters will attend as well.

"We are very, very serious about re-engaging with the community,"
Franklin said.

Some citizens remain unconvinced.

Dremecia Sumpter, 27, a mother of five who has lived two doors down
from the Johnston house since about a month before the shooting, said
police presence in the neighborhood remains spotty and community
relations are poor.

She said kids partying on the corner of Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard
and Neal Street got into a fight several weeks ago and shots were
fired. She said police took half an hour to respond.

"The police aren't patrolling this area at all, anyway, anyhow," she said.