Atlanta’s public safety training center — an ambitious project announced on the heels of nationwide calls for police reform — will fully open today as officials cut the ribbon on the sprawling 85-acre complex in unincorporated DeKalb County.
The grand opening marks an end to arguably one of the city’s most heated, and at times violent, disputes between City Hall officials and a significant portion of the public.
Since its inception, the training center — which will be home to operational training exercises and classroom work for police, firefighters and 911 dispatchers — was met with outcry over its cost, environmental impact and mission.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
From above, the sprawling law enforcement hub sits nestled in the trees of the South River Forest in between Constitution and Key roads just past the border of southeast Atlanta.
City officials have said the facility is one of the most sophisticated in the country. Among its features are:
- A 58,000 square-foot academic building at the center of the property that will host classroom courses like de-escalation training and an ambulance simulator for first responders.
- Another 17,000 square-foot leadership building, intended for public use, which officials say community groups will be able to utilize.
- A gymnasium, wellness center and 200-person auditorium.
- A driving course and skid pad for use by police, firefighters and Atlanta’s utility workers learning to navigate narrow city streets.
- A “mock village” made up of a two-story house, convenience store, an apartment and a commercial-style building that will be used to replicate emergencies like armed robberies or mental health crises.
- A six-story burn building — one of only two rescue towers of its kind in the country — that simulates conditions for recruits who aren’t familiar with the blazing heat and dense smoke of a life-threatening fire.
- A training fire station.
- A shooting range.
- A barn at the property’s front entrance that houses the 11 horses that make up Atlanta’s mounted patrols, with the hope that the unit can expand with the additional space.
- The APD K-9 unit.
Former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms unveiled plans for the center 2021, as she struggled to curb the city’s spiking crime rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city argued that a state-of-the-art complex would satisfy both the dire need for updated training facilities and demands for more community-based policing.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
But hundreds of residents spoke out against its construction over the course of years. A grassroots movement known as “Stop Cop City” coalesced a diverse group of opponents: environmental advocates fearing irrevocable damage to the South River Forest, and others who worried about militarization of police.
There was even a referendum effort in an attempt to force a vote over the facility that never moved past the court of appeals.
Pushback was only heightened when the public’s share of funding jumped from the originally promised $30 million to $61 million because of a leaseback provision that more than doubled the originally stated cost. City and police foundation officials argue the leaseback was always part of the funding plan and that there is actually no change in cost to the public.
The price tag only rose from there, finally settling at nearly $117 million.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
One protester was shot by police on the grounds and dozens more people face criminal charges for various attempts to halt construction, involving lighting construction equipment on fire, hurling Molotov cocktails at police and individuals chaining themselves to equipment.
Officials have estimated damage to construction equipment and police vehicles total more than $10 million.
In November 2023, protesters clashed with police on the road not far from the site. The encounter ended with tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The city attributes most of the ballooning cost to increased security measures at the site.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who voted in favor of the training center when he was a City Council member, hasn’t wavered in his support for the project.
“Having a public safety training center is the right thing to do,” Dickens said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this year. “We were losing officers through attrition and other things — we were less safe than we are now.”
“So we did the right thing,” he said.
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