Thread by @ColorOfChange

Last night, @atlcouncil voted YES on plans to raze Atlanta Forest to build a $90MM cop training facility. 70% of the public opposed the plan.

The fight to #StopCopCity isn’t over. But this isn’t the 1st time @atlpolicefdn used backroom deals to expand violent policing. A thread:

https://twitter.com/mainlinezine/status/1435920930711252997

Founded in 2003, Atlanta Police Foundation (@atlpolicefdn) is a private, corporate-sponsored organization. Behind closed doors, police foundations and their corporate sponsors privately fund the ongoing militarization & expansion of policing, targeting BIPOC communities. #gapol

.@atlpolicefdn is no exception. The pro-police group reported $7 million dollars in revenue in 2018, and nearly $11 million in 2019, a 45% increase. This private $$$ is used to supplement APD's massive budget with little to no public accountability, transparency, or oversight.

.@atlpolicefdn spent more than $2.6 million, nearly one-third of their 2017 expenses, on the “Operation Shield” surveillance program. This network of over 11,000 cameras monitors overpoliced Black Atlantans, making ATL the most surveilled city in the U.S. ajc.com/news/local/rea…

.@ACLU has raised concerns that “video surveillance has not been proven effective,” and that because of discriminatory targeting, “Black people were between 1.5-2.5x more likely to be surveilled than one would expect from their presence in the population.” aclu.org/other/whats-wr…

Operation Shield encourages businesses to connect their cameras w/ police through a video surveillance hub that blankets ATL business districts. @atlpolicefdn is also working w/ APD on an expanded program called “Operation Aware" — aka biased, experimental "predictive policing."

While funding the surveillance of Black Atlantans, @atlpolicefdn touts its “At-Promise Youth Initiative,” youth centers that puts Black kids & families in direct contact with law enforcement.

Police foundations use youth centers & community events to push pro-police propaganda.

Both “Operation Shield” and “At-Promise” are part of the multi-million dollar “Westside Security Plan” to increase police presence in the predominantly Black neighborhoods in Atlanta’s Westside, a “gentrification pressure area.” #gapol
atlantapolicefoundation.org/wp-content/upl…

By design, @atlpolicefdn’s “Operation Shield” and “Operation Aware” programs increase police presence and public space surveillance in already overpoliced communities — paid for by private corporate cash, without transparency or community input. #gapol
saportareport.com/column-atlanta…

Instead of supporting community-based public safety initiatives that keep people safe, police foundations directly donate or help police pay for surveillance software, military weapons, & SWAT equipment purchased outside of public oversight that is used to terrorize Black people

But there’s more: This year, @atlcouncil approved another corporation, Atlanta-based @Flock_Safety, to install additional surveillance cameras and license plate readers through the Atlanta Police Foundation. #gapol
mdjonline.com/neighbor_newsp…

ATL City Councilmember @NMArchibong has even proposed installing security cameras on all gas pumps in the city — expanding “Operation Shield” to every corner of Atlanta. A city under police watch, 24/7.

Surveillance doesn’t keep us safe. #gapol
fox5atlanta.com/news/atlanta-c…

Beyond expanding corporate-sponsored surveillance, @atlpolicefdn has spent MILLIONS to expand “private police forces” in Buckhead — a wealthy, majority-white, politically conservative neighborhood where Black Atlantans go to shop, brunch, and gather.
reporternewspapers.net/2020/03/25/buc…

This raises several red flags, including oversight and accountability issues, conflicts of interest, pay-to-play policing, and more. Who do privatized police squads report to? #atlpol #gapol buckheadcid.com/buckhead-secur…

Establishing a “private police force” is why the first police foundation was created in New York City 50 years ago. @nycpolicefdtn adds to NYPD’s $11 BILLION annual budget and has even expanded violent policing outside of NYC and overseas: gothamist.com/news/do-cops-s…

Atlanta and NYC are not alone. There are hundreds of police foundations in the United States — one in nearly every major city (likely in yours, too). Many were formed in the last decade in the wake of calls to demilitarize the police. #StopCopCity #gapol nextcity.org/daily/entry/pr…

Put simply, police foundations ensure that the police protect corporate interests, not the communities police claim to “protect and serve.”

In doing so, police foundations lay bare the real purpose of police: to protect power, property, and privilege. #StopCopCity #gapol

To reduce the power of police foundations and invest in what keeps our communities safe, we need to:
1️⃣ Demand corporations divest from police foundations
2️⃣ Demand elected officials investigate police foundations & hold them accountable
3️⃣ Research + call out PFs where we live

In the coming weeks, we'll share more ways to take action to fight back against police foundations and the state-sanctioned violence these organizations enable.

Stay tuned + learn more about our previous work to expose and dismantle police foundations: policepiggybank.com