Atlanta/U.S. Tourism Promotion: Police officer says he is a good representative of the city

I don't know if you ever saw the movie Robo Cop 2, where the original Robocop was paralyzed by having inputed into his firmware hundreds of directives on how he should do his job. Police officers, given guns, tend to operate with a limited set of directives, with a predeliction for force.

Last year I wrote about the Brand Atlanta campaign, not being too fond of the logo. (See "A lesson (good and bad) in city-regional branding.")

Atlanta Journal-Constitution image.

The arrest of an Oxford professor for jaywalking, which I mentioned the other day, has made the Independent (London) and presumably other British newspapers. (Blog entry: Historian at convention arrested, jailed for jaywalking in Atlanta.")

Yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in the article "Officer disputes jaywalking professor's story," reports the police officer's side. From the article:

The Atlanta police officer being investigated for his treatment of a prominent British historian said Tuesday that Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is not the innocent abroad he claims to be. The Tufts University professor, who was arrested last Thursday and charged with disorderly conduct, contends he was assaulted without provocation for merely jaywalking across Courtland Street. But Officer Kevin Leonpacher insists he is no rogue cop and suggests perhaps the professor is a bit of a scofflaw. ...

Leonpacher insists he was a good representative for the city. He was working a part-time job that day -- with police consent, his superiors confirmed-- for the Hilton Hotel, trying to direct pedestrians to use crosswalks. Police describe the street as one of downtown's most dangerous for pedestrians. ...

"It looked rather pathetic," said Lisa Kazmier, a professor of history at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She witnessed the arrest. "I definitely felt sorry for the guy. It was like he was Osama Bin Laden or something. It seemed so bizarre seeing this helpless looking guy on the ground like that." But Leonpacher said Fernandez-Armesto has no one to blame but himself.

I can't imagine this is the brand identity Atlanta or the U.S. wants to be sending to potential visitors. They need to take their slogan: "Every Day is an opening day;" to heart.

Also see the previous blog entry, "Re-branding America."

Arrest of the professor. History News Network photo.

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