In many ways, the ribbon cutting of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center had all the makings of a typical ceremony: government officials, light refreshments and an actual ribbon.
But what Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens said wasn’t so typical was what it took to get to Tuesday’s event, four years after the facility was first announced.
“I thought long and hard about how much of this speech I would devote to what we had to overcome to get this facility done,” he said, “whether I would speak about the opposition.”
Dickens ultimately chose not to get into specifics, but surrounding the project is the death of a protester, a wounded state trooper, criminal charges brought against dozens of people for setting construction equipment on fire and lengthy court battles over what opponents dubbed “Cop City.”
“I will not relive nor recount or breathe any life into that past,” Dickens said. “We are here now.”
Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who has taken a tough-on-crime approach during his two terms in office, praised city officials and law enforcement for seeing the project through despite receiving threats from what he described as “state-of-the-art, organized, and well-funded activists and criminals.”
“They did the right thing, even when it was not easy and even though they faced incredible pressure to bend to the demands of extremist voices who do not represent this community, our capital city or our state,” Kemp said.
It’s estimated that Atlanta’s 85-acre, $118 million training center — an increase from the previous estimate of $90 million — would cost more than double to build today. About $30 million was taxpayer-funded while the rest came from corporations through the private Atlanta Police Foundation, including Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises and Delta Air Lines.
The facility sits in unincorporated DeKalb County and is considered one of the largest and most sophisticated in the nation, with similar development plans underway in nearby states. It features simulated burn buildings, live scenario mock villages, virtual reality training tools, a driving course, a shooting range and an onsite wellness center for police and firefighters, who, for the first time in decades, will train together.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the center, which was pitched in response to nationwide calls for police reform, has already been helping to retain and recruit more officers. That’s why, instead of having six recruit classes this year, the police department plans to have one every month for the next six months to keep up with demand.
“There are police departments and sheriffs here, the Georgia State Patrol, the FBI, the ATF … that the Atlanta Police Department owes a debt of gratitude to, because when Antifa put out its call for individuals to rally here in this spot and on Peachtree Street from across the nation and literally the globe, were were against a playbook we had never seen [before],” Schierbaum said. “We all knew that if that playbook was successful here, it would find itself across this country, and public safety would be stymied wherever we go.”
Meanwhile, opponents argue that instead of helping the community, the center diverts taxpayer funds away from essential resources and perpetuates the militarization of police. Others also worried about the facility’s environmental impact throughout the South River Forest — one of Atlanta’s largest remaining green spaces that is often referred to as being one of the city’s “lungs.”
“While Cop City drains millions from the city’s budget, Atlanta’s real emergencies are growing worse: affordable housing is becoming increasingly scarce, the unhoused population grows daily and vital city workers face layoffs,” stated the People’s Campaign to Stop Cop City in a news release after the ribbon cutting.
The group held a press conference Tuesday evening near the site where Cornelius Taylor, a homeless man in Atlanta, was killed after being struck by a construction vehicle and just days after 24-year-old Damario Smith was shot and killed by Fulton County police.
“These avoidable tragedies remind us our fight isn’t over until Cop City falls and Atlanta reallocates funding towards services that actually keep our communities safe,” the release stated. “Cop City may be built, but Atlantans’ resistance remains as strong and determined as ever.”
