01-05-2025
Inside ‘Cop City': What Atlanta's Controversial Training Center Looks Like
The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center — the southern DeKalb County facility colloquially known as 'Cop City' — officially opened its doors Tuesday after four contentious years of development.
The 85-acre campus will serve as the training grounds for the city's police and firefighters, yet it has received strong pushback due to its environmental impact, $67 million taxpayer price tag, and prospect of police militarization being used against Black citizens.
'We need this training center so that we can better service you,' Roderick Smith, chief of Atlanta Fire and Rescue, said during a December media tour of Cop City. 'No matter what stories you've heard about what's going on or what's transpiring here, we've been very transparent about what this facility means to each department and what services we intend to provide.'
Cop City was first announced in April 2021 by then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as a means of increasing morale and improving retention among Atlanta police officers following a wave of protests during summer 2020.
Activists began organizing to oppose the facility almost immediately, but Stop Cop City — a movement of racial and environmental justice activists — received national and international attention after Georgia Bureau of Investigation SWAT shot and killed 26-year-old Manuel 'Tortuguita' Paez Terán there on the morning of Jan. 18, 2023. The unit was raiding South River Forest to clear out activists known as 'forest defenders' who were camping in the woods adjacent to where the facility is now located.
The shooting spurred protests in downtown Atlanta that led Gov. Brian Kemp to declare a state of emergency. Local elected officials who sought to delegitimize the movement labeled people affiliated with Stop Cop City as 'domestic terrorists' and 'outside agitators.'
Despite Stop Cop City gaining momentum, particularly on local college campuses, the political will to move forward with the facility never faltered.
In June 2023, Stop Cop City launched the Cop City Vote campaign with the support of organizations like Working Families Power, Community Movement Builders, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
The campaign collected more than 100,000 signatures with the goal of putting the controversial training center on the ballot. Despite support for the referendum from U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, former state Rep. Stacey Abrams, and Bernice King, the city refused to count the signatures to determine if enough had been gathered to force a vote.
Mayor Andre Dickens has been a staunch supporter of the facility, asserting that more training is necessary to reduce instances of police brutality.
Now that the training center is open, activists say they remain committed to fighting against the trend of increased spending on policing and decreased spending on public services.
'Our fight isn't over until Cop City falls and Atlanta reallocates funding towards services that actually keep our communities safe,' reads a press release from The People's Campaign to Stop Cop City, which held a press conference at Jackson Street Bridge on Tuesday. 'Cop City may be built, but Atlantans' resistance remains as strong and determined as ever.'
Capital B Atlanta toured Cop City in December for an inside look at the training center. This is what we saw.
Lt. Greg Lyon, commander of the mounted patrol, talks with the media. The horse stables that were previously located in Grant Park have been moved to the new training center.
The name 'Cop City' nods to the mock city that includes a fake gas station/convenience store, school/apartment building, and two-story home where police and SWAT officers will practice conducting raids and responding to hostage situations and active shooter threats.
Atlanta Police Chief Administrative Officer Marshall Freeman stands in front of the greenspace that will become a 0.9-mile walking trail that is open to the public.
Police and fire recruits will take public safety courses in the main classroom building, which also has a community space designated for local groups like neighborhood watch to hold meetings.
Recruits, officers, and firefighters will practice driving squad cars, fire trucks, or motorcycles.
ABOVE: Atlanta Fire and Rescue Chief Roderick Smith stands in front of the mock fire station at the training center. BELOW: In the six-story burn tower, firefighters will practice rescues in full gear and conditions that simulate a house fire.
The post Inside 'Cop City': What Atlanta's Controversial Training Center Looks Like appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
