After a relatively quick turnaround from introduction to passage, the Atlanta City Council gave approval this week for the Atlanta Police Foundation to build a public safety training campus on city property in south Atlanta. The state-of-the-art facility will sit on 85 acres and the remaining 265 acres of the property will be preserved as public greenspace.
“The new Public Safety Training Facility is another step in our Administration’s efforts to support our fire and police officers, while also focusing on sensible reform,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “This training facility will not only help boost morale, retention and recruitment of our public safety personnel, but will give us physical space to ensure that our officers and firefighters are receiving 21st century training, rooted in respect and regard for the communities they serve. We will continue to work with the impacted communities on how to best thoughtfully develop and preserve the surrounding property.”
The new campus will provide training for members of not just the Atlanta Police Department but also Atlanta Fire Rescue and E911. The first phase of the construction will be built with private funding from the Atlanta Police Foundation, with philanthropic and corporate donations. The total cost of the facilities is currently estimated at $90 million (check back on that one) and the city will be contributing a $1 million per year on a 30-year lease starting in FY 24.
According to the police foundation, the new center will help to improve morale, retention and recruitment, in addition to setting a national standard for community engagement and police reform. Besides the training facilities, the space will also include 30 acres for urban farming, an auditorium for both police/fire and public use, an emergency vehicle driver training course, K-9 unit kennels and training and the Atlanta Police Academy.
The discussion around the facility coming just a few months ahead of the open Atlanta mayoral election drew much opposition from concerned activists, both those concerned about the environmental impact of developing a relatively established forest and also those concerned about police overreach or lack of reform. For those concerned about increasing crime in Atlanta, the new center was a way to support the police and increase resources for a city grappling over the crime issue.
The vote in the city council ended up not very close, with the final vote tally of 10-4. Two current council members are running for mayor, Andre Dickens who voted yes and Antonio Brown who voted no. City Council President Felicia Moore is also running for mayor but did not vote as it is not required in her role as officiant of sorts for the council.
In somewhat of an ironic twist, former mayor Kasim Reed was able to stay out of the fray and take what might be called the activist position against the issue, without having to suffer widespread consequences with the broader electorate who may not be staying informed of the day-to-day goings on in the mayor race.
