Don’t Cop Out: How the Black Mecca Is Redefining Public Safety
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 19 August 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if the answer to poverty, addiction, and crisis wasn’t punishment—but care?
In this episode of Don’t Cop Out, we talk to Ash DeSilva of Atlanta PAD, a groundbreaking initiative replacing police response with compassion and practical support. From redirecting arrests to rebuilding lives, PAD is rewriting what justice can look like in Atlanta and beyond .
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Support and learn more about Atlanta PAD at https://www.atlantapad.org/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Don't Cop Out. |
| 0:02.0 | You show that challenges everything you think you know about public safety. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm your host, William C. Anderson. |
| 0:20.1 | Each episode, I'll introduce you to a community safety responder who's leading the charge |
| 0:24.9 | and creating alternatives to policing. |
| 0:27.3 | Together, we'll debunk common myths about what keeps us safe and introduce you to people |
| 0:32.7 | proving that true safety doesn't require a badge or a gun. |
| 0:37.3 | Today, I'm speaking with Ashta Silver of Atlanta |
| 0:40.5 | policing alternatives and diversion initiative, also known as PAB. Let's get into it. |
| 0:49.2 | Welcome, Ash. How are you? I'm doing great, man. What about yourself? I'm all right. I'm all right. |
| 0:53.2 | Thanks for asking. |
| 0:55.0 | I'm really looking forward to this conversation with you today. |
| 0:57.0 | One of the first things I wanted to get into was just the story of Pad. |
| 1:01.0 | I mean, you're an organization with an interesting and unique backstory and perspective about this work. |
| 1:09.0 | So if we could get started with you telling me a little bit about who Pat is and how it came |
| 1:13.7 | into being, that would be great. |
| 1:14.8 | Sure. |
| 1:15.6 | So Pad really started around 2017 and was founded by black trans sex workers. |
| 1:25.1 | And they really had a vision of seeing people on the streets that really needed help. |
| 1:34.0 | And there was no program. |
| 1:36.7 | There was no intervention other than policing that made contact with these individuals |
| 1:42.3 | that really needed help. |
... |
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