Latest news with #AtlantaPoliceFoundation
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Atlanta Police Foundation ordered to comply with open records requests over ‘Cop City' documents
Illustration by Eric Wilson for Votebeat A Fulton County Superior Court Judge has ordered the Atlanta Police Foundation to comply with a series of open records requests filed by a group of reporters and researchers related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, colloquially known as 'Cop City.' The foundation has 30 days to release 15 unredacted public records it had sought to withhold in a case closely watched by journalists and government transparency advocates alike. The foundation is a private nonprofit organization that raises funds for the Atlanta Police Department, helps with police recruitment and serves as the driving force behind the controversial 85-acre training facility that opened earlier this year after mass protests and crackdowns from the state. The plaintiffs, Atlanta Community Press Collective and Chicago-based research center Lucy Parsons Labs, had first requested records regarding the training center back in 2023. The requested records included APF board meeting agendas and minutes, budget documents, emails between foundation officials and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, and various contracts. However, they received no response from the APF, even as the foundation provided records to news outlets like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB. In a 12-page order released Friday, Judge Jane Barwick ruled that the APF's decision to withhold the records violated Georgia's open records laws, stating that 'records 'maintained or received by a … private person or entity in the performance of a service or function for or on behalf of an agency' are subject to the Open Records Act.' As a result, 'APF was under a duty to provide records to ACPC and Lucy Parsons Labs pursuant to the Open Records Act,' the ruling reads. 'Under the authority explained in this Order, no exemptions applied.' Barwick also emphasized that public records could not be withheld on the basis of which person or group requested them. 'Let the record also be clear that the identity of the requestor does not determine whether records are characterized as public,' she wrote. However, she declined to award attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs, reasoning that the police foundation did not 'knowingly and willfully' violate the Open Records Act. During a two-day bench trial in April, APF President and CEO Dave Wilkinson testified that he viewed responding to the records requests as voluntary, since he did not believe that the private nonprofit was subject to Georgia's open records laws. He also argued that releasing unredacted records could endanger the individuals named in those records by exposing them to harassment and threats from protestors. The press collective applauded the ruling, but condemned the multi-year battle it took to gain access to the records. 'While we're pleased with the result of the lawsuit, we're frustrated that it required a lawsuit to confirm what we already knew to be true: the Atlanta Police Foundation should be responsive to records requests regarding its operations for and on behalf of the City of Atlanta,' the community press collective said in a statement on the ruling. Joy Ramsingh, an attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the suit, also criticized the police foundation's initial refusal to provide the records. 'The fact that APF continued to fight even though the law was so clearly established against them, I think shows bad faith,' Ramsingh said. 'I think it shows a very political mindset on their part as opposed to a willingness to comply with the law.' The police foundation also applauded the ruling, saying it 'welcomes and celebrates Judge Barwick's court ruling as a clear affirmation of our role, our structure, and our ongoing commitment to public safety in Atlanta,' and that they plan to 'fully comply' with the plaintiffs' record requests. The issue of public access to government records has been an ongoing issue across the state in recent months. Last August, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that private contractors working for public entities are still subject to open records laws, and can be sent requests for public records they may possess. The ruling reversed an appeals court decision that government transparency advocates argued would shield certain public records from disclosure. The case also prompted new legislation aimed at clarifying Georgia's existing public records law. Under Senate Bill 12, which was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp earlier this year, requests for public records that involve a private entity must now go through the local governmental agencies that contracted with those third parties. Though a last-minute amendment sought to restrict public access from records of police officers' stops, arrests and incident responses, legislators in the House ultimately reversed the changes before advancing SB 12 to the governor's desk. ACPC Final Order SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leaders behind building Atlanta Public Safety Training Center ‘surprised' by community pushback
The leader of the Atlanta Police Foundation says the newly opened Atlanta Public Safety Training Center will be good for the community, so he's surprised at the pushback it received. Of the $118 million price tag on the training center, $31 million came from the city. The rest came from Atlanta Police Foundation donors. Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne sat down with President and CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation Dave Wilkinson. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] 'The mission of the police foundation is to build a safer city to work closely with the citizens, the neighborhoods, the mayor, the city of Atlanta Police Department, all to create a safe city,' Wilkinson said. He says Atlanta has always prioritized making sure officers perform well and are trained well. 'If you combine better talent with better training, you get better outcomes on the streets of Atlanta,' he said. 'In most incidents of police brutality that you've seen around this country, it always comes down to, typically, a lack of talent or a lack of training by the police officers.' Keyana Jones-Moore says she was active in the movement protesting the construction of the training center. 'The police foundation was essentially pushing for something that the public did not want,' Jones-Moore said. 'I'm absolutely still opposed to Cop City.' RELATED STORIES: Atlanta Public Safety Training Center officially opens after years of opposition Diary of dead Atlanta Public Safety Center protester now core of new legal filings from Georgia AG Activists against new training center say city is blocking people's right to vote on project DeKalb DA withdraws her office from Atlanta Public Safety Training Center cases Activists face off with city leaders over plans for public safety training center More than 60 protesters named in RICO indictment connected to Atlanta public safety training center Wilkinson says the donation-funded, non-profit foundation often prefers a low profile, but became a target as the opposition ramped up. Jones-Moore says she didn't commit any acts of destruction, but hesitates to condemn those who did. 'There's no such thing as peaceful protest because protest in and of itself disturbs the peace of the status quo,' she said. Wilkinson says the community did want the center, which is proven by the more than $10 million spent meeting specific requests suggested by neighborhood leaders. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Key Fight Over the Most Infamous Police Project in the Country Is Coming to a Head
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Last week, Dave Wilkinson, CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation, took the witness stand in an Atlanta courtroom and argued that a local media outlet had no right to request his organization's records under Georgia's Open Records Act. Why? Because, he claimed, their coverage of the controversial police training facility known as 'Cop City' would be used to turn the public against the project and 'terrorize' the companies building it. In other words, the highest-paid police foundation executive in the country essentially argued that journalism is a form of terrorism. Wilkinson was in court responding to a lawsuit filed by the Atlanta Community Press Collective, a small nonprofit newsroom, and Lucy Parsons Labs, a transparency-focused research organization. The case represents more than just a fight over meeting minutes: It's a battleground for the future of transparency in public-private partnerships, where private actors are increasingly embedded in state functions—and using that status to shield themselves from public scrutiny. At the heart of the lawsuit is a critical question: Can the actions of the Atlanta Police Foundation—a private nonprofit—be considered public for the purposes of Georgia's Open Records Act? The plaintiffs argue yes, pointing out that APF runs nearly two dozen programs on behalf of the city of Atlanta, including the construction of Cop City—a sprawling, militarized police training facility in a metro Atlanta forest—and the development of the city's surveillance infrastructure. These are not peripheral projects; they are central to how public safety in the city is shaped and enforced. As such, they should be subject to the same transparency standards that govern public agencies. If the court sides with the foundation and allows its refusal to comply with records requests to stand, it could set a dangerous precedent—paving the way for governments to outsource core public functions to private entities shielded from public scrutiny. The story of Cop City is both deeply local and intensely emblematic of national trends. From its inception, the facility faced widespread public opposition, including mass protests, forest defense occupations, and hundreds of hours of oppositional public comment. It also faced accusations of secrecy and deception, thanks in large part to its funding model: a public-private partnership, or P3. The proliferation of P3s across the U.S.—from transit to housing to policing—has accelerated over the past decade. These partnerships are often sold as 'innovative,' but in practice they obscure decision-making, shift risk onto the public, and prioritize profits over public good. In infrastructure, that might mean a toll road built to maximize fees rather than access. In policing, it means a militarized force bankrolled by the private sector to protect capital, not communities. Originally, the city of Atlanta promised to contribute $30 million in public funds, with the remaining $60 million to come from private donors, funneled through the Atlanta Police Foundation. So, what is a police foundation? The short answer: a slush fund for police departments. The longer answer: Police foundations are the preferred vehicle for corporations and wealthy donors to bankroll the expansion, militarization, and surveillance capacities of police—outside of public budgets and beyond public oversight. Found in most major U.S. cities, police foundations fund everything from the very serious (the construction of training centers and surveillance networks and the purchase of military-grade equipment) to the kind of inane (sponsoring a police horse, or buying police dogs bulletproof vests, or, in St. Louis, funding the integral work of Operation Polar Cops, an ice cream truck run by police officers.) The donors are often a who's who of local corporate elites, often with business before the city. So while police already consume the lion's share of most municipal budgets, they also enjoy a second funding stream that comes with even fewer strings attached. Independent outlets in Atlanta like ACPC have stepped into a local reporting vacuum during the lengthy Cop City showdown. The city's flagship newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, showed little interest in investigating the project. The reason may be structural: The AJC is owned by Cox Enterprises, a major donor to the Atlanta Police Foundation through the James M. Cox Foundation. Its CEO at the time, Alex Taylor, was directly involved in APF fundraising. Despite claiming editorial independence, the AJC failed to disclose this conflict while publishing favorable coverage and opinion pieces supporting Cop City. ACPC, by contrast, used Georgia's open records law to uncover critical facts about the project's ballooning cost and secretive planning process. Its reporting revealed that the city quietly introduced an ordinance—later passed—that would increase public spending on Cop City to at least $51 million. That included a $31 million payment to the APF, plus a lease-back agreement worth another $20 million over 20 years. These revelations likely wouldn't have come to light without records obtained through Georgia's transparency laws. ACPC had initially accessed APF board meeting minutes by requesting them from the Atlanta Police Department—a public agency that was receiving the minutes from the foundation. But when APF stopped sending those minutes to the Atlanta Police Department, ACPC began requesting them directly from the foundation. APF refused. That stonewalling landed them in court. This might seem like a narrow skirmish over bureaucratic documents, but the implications are wide. In court, the Atlanta Police Foundation argued that it is a private entity, separate from the Atlanta Police Department, and therefore not subject to Georgia's open records laws. But the APF's role in the construction of Cop City—raising the funds, helping select the contractors, crafting communications strategy—looks very much like a public function cloaked in private legal status. This case echoes a troubling national trend: private actors increasingly exercising public power while avoiding public accountability. Consider Elon Musk's involvement in everything from federal transportation contracts to national security satellites. His companies shape policy and infrastructure in ways that affect millions, but as private enterprises, they operate outside of most transparency laws. That kind of shadow governance, enabled by P3s, friendly legislators, and a gutted regulatory state, is not a bug of modern governance. It's becoming the system itself. At the same time, across the country, state legislatures are quietly but deliberately weakening the open records laws that make investigative journalism possible. Lawmakers are introducing bills that narrow what qualifies as a public record, extend response times, raise fees for requesters, or exempt entire categories of information from disclosure. In some states, public agencies are allowed to simply ignore requests without consequence. In others, journalists have been sued or even criminally investigated for pursuing records. These efforts don't usually make national headlines, but they are part of a sustained erosion of the public's right to know—death by a thousand paper cuts to the First Amendment. The result is a chilling effect on accountability reporting and a growing opacity in the very institutions meant to serve the public. In the era of Trump 2.0, as power is increasingly concentrated and privatized, the deliberate dismantling of transparency laws isn't just a bureaucratic issue, it's a democratic crisis. Without access to documents, data, and deliberations, journalism becomes guesswork, speculation, or PR. Reporters can't hold power to account if they're forced to work in the dark. If journalism is democracy's rough draft, as the saying goes, transparency is the paper it's printed on. This case is about much more than a few withheld emails or board minutes. It's about whether the public has a right to know how power operates—and who is paying for it—when that power wears both a badge and a corporate logo.
Washington Post
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Atlanta's 'Cop City' is nearly complete. Where does that leave opponents' signature effort?
ATLANTA — A federal appeals court is considering whether to dismiss a massive citywide effort to force a vote on an Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center that city attorneys say is now 'substantially complete.' The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been silent for more than 14 months after hearing arguments in December 2023 over whether to overturn a lower court ruling that let nonresidents collect signatures as part of the 'Stop Cop City' referendum effort. The facility is on land the city of Atlanta leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Opponents, who collected more than 108,000 signatures in 2023, say voters should be able to revoke that lease.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Atlanta's 'Cop City' is nearly complete. Where does that leave opponents' signature effort?
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court is considering whether to dismiss a massive citywide effort to force a vote on an Atlanta-area police and firefighter training center that city attorneys say is now 'substantially complete.' The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had been silent for more than 14 months after hearing arguments in December 2023 over whether to overturn a lower court ruling that let nonresidents collect signatures as part of the 'Stop Cop City' referendum effort. The facility is on land the city of Atlanta leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Opponents, who collected more than 108,000 signatures in 2023, say voters should be able to revoke that lease. In the meantime, construction on the 85-acre (34-hectare), $115 million project continued apace last year. A spokesperson for Mayor Andre Dickens told The Associated Press on Wednesday that training has begun at the facility and classrooms are expected to be fully utilized by late March. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. The debate over the training center embroiled the city and captured national attention, especially after state troopers fatally shot an activist protesting near the project in January 2023. Opponents say the facility will worsen police militarization and harm the environment in a flood-prone, majority-Black neighborhood. They say the city's fight against the referendum is anti-democratic and dovetails with their concerns about a violent police response to protests and a prosecution on racketeering charges of dozens of opponents. In response to a recent appeals court request over whether the issue is now moot, city attorneys on Tuesday urged the court to toss the issue. The city's attorneys wrote that police officers, firefighters and first responders have begun training at the 'state-of-the-art facility' and 'any referendum on the ground lease ordinance will not remove the Center from the site or prevent its use by the City for these purposes.' Even if a referendum took place, 'any outcome of such a referendum would be merely academic at this point — the Center has been built and will not be torn down,' they added. But attorneys for four people who live outside the city and sued for the right to collect signatures say that just because the training center has been built does not negate the primary issue — whether voters can revoke the city's 50-year lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the facility. 'The lease does not terminate upon completion of construction of the training center,' the attorneys wrote. 'That alone should end the mootness inquiry.' The attorneys for the facility opponents also argued that the case has an underlying First Amendment issue that must be resolved: Can nonresidents collect signatures for a referendum effort they are not eligible to vote on? Keyanna Jones, one of the plaintiffs, said she formerly lived near the training center site, which is just outside Atlanta city limits in unincorporated DeKalb County. She said collecting petitions was one of the few ways neighbors outside the city could fight the project. The debate over nonresidents' rights to collect signatures has meant the city has not begun the costly, laborious work of analyzing the approximately 108,500 signatures that activists turned in to City Hall in September 2023. If the court tosses the case, they likely never will. Even if the appeals court does not dismiss the case because of the training center's completion, the judges could still kill the petition drive by ruling it illegal under state law, or rule all of the signatures are void because none were submitted by the original 60-day deadline of Aug. 21, 2023. A ruling just narrowing which petitions are accepted could also doom the chances that opponents will have enough signatures from eligible registered Atlanta voters to force a referendum, an analysis by The Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting, WABE and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found. Statistical sampling of 1,000 entries found it's possible opponents gathered the required 58,231 signatures if all entries are counted. But excluding signatures collected after Aug. 21, 2023, or by people who weren't Atlanta voters would disqualify 20% of potentially eligible sampled entries — likely defeating the effort. ___ Associated Press writer Charlotte Kramon contributed.
