Atlanta police officers are getting $500 bonuses, amid Black Lives Matter protests and public outrage over the death of Rayshard Brooks

• The Atlanta Police Foundation — a privately funded institution — is giving every Atlanta police officer a $500 bonus.
• The organization is also buying 20 new cars for the police force to replace ones that were destroyed in recent protests.
• The Atlanta Police Department has faced scrutiny in recent weeks, following the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks and the arrests of two college students who officers dragged from a car and Tased.
• After several police officers called out sick on Wednesday night, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Thursday that police morale in Atlanta is "down ten-fold."
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Every police officer in Atlanta is getting a $500 bonus this week, as residents in the city continue to protest against police brutality.

The Atlanta Police Foundation — a privately funded institution founded in 2003 to support the city's law enforcement — told WSB-TV that it had raised more than $2 million to donate as bonuses to the force, and that no funds will come from city money.

The Atlanta Police Foundation said the bonuses were given to thank officers for the long hours they've worked during protests and the coronavirus pandemic, WSB-TV reported.

The Foundation also plans to buy 20 new police cars for the force, to replace vehicles that were destroyed during recent protests.

The Atlanta Police Department has faced heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after nationwide protests broke out over the May 25 death of George Floyd. Protests intensified over the weekend after an Atlanta police officer fatally shot 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks Friday night. Officers involved in the shooting have been charged in Brooks' death, and Atlanta's chief of police resigned.

Two weeks before Brooks' death, six Atlanta police officers were charged after they arrested two students during a protest. The officers were caught on video dragging the students out of a car at a gas station and using a Taser on them.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Thursday that police morale is "down ten-fold" in the city.

"This has been a very tough few weeks in Atlanta and with the tragedy of Mr. Brooks, and then on top of that the excessive force charges that were brought against the officers involved with the college students, there's a lot happening in our city, and the police officers are receiving the brunt of it quite frankly," she said.

After officers were charged in Brooks' death, several others called in sick — but many speculated that they were calling in sick to protest the murder charge filed against the officer who shot Brooks.

Insider has contacted the Atlanta Police Foundation for further information.

• Read more:
• A Michigan police chief is keeping his job after criticizing Black Lives Matters protesters and saying rioters and looters were 'vicious subhumans' and 'barbarians'
• American police training is broken. Here's what's wrong and 7 ways we can fix it.
• Police training programs have a pseudoscience problem
• Police have traditionally protested anti-police rhetoric by making fewer arrests. Right now that's exactly what the public wants.

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