Conflict in the South River Forest
A view of the landscape of Atlanta's South River Forest, where a conflict has emerged over a proposed $90 million public safety training center to be built by the Atlanta Police Foundation. Adjacent to the proposed training center is public land that includes Intrenchment Creek Park. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The South River Forest is an area of green space in south DeKalb County described as one of the “four lungs” of Atlanta. The City of Atlanta owns a portion of the land — once known as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm — and is leasing 85 acres of it to the Atlanta Police Foundation for a new $90 million public safety training center critics have dubbed “Cop City.”
Adjacent to the proposed training center is public land that includes Intrenchment Creek Park. DeKalb County traded this land to former Blackhall Studios CEO Ryan Millsap in a controversial exchange for land elsewhere that the studio owned. Both deals are at the center of conflict between law enforcement and protesters, which has gained global attention and resulted in the shooting of a Georgia State Patrol officer, the death of a 26-year-old protester and dozens of domestic terrorism charges for others.
