Thread by @civicatlanta

Atlanta promised Black communities a green space – why does it now include a police training facility?

A 🧵 on the role of public participation to date on #CopCity. 🌳 🚨

The @CityofAtlanta owns ~381 acres in unincorporated DeKalb County – the site of an old prison farm that was built on Indigenous Muscogee land, part of what is now called South River Forest.

Surrounded by Black-majority neighborhoods, this land was envisioned as a park for communities – then the City decided to build a new $90M police, fire, and corrections training center.

For decades, the community was led to believe that Atlanta’s old prison farm would become a public park (@mariasaporta wrote about it in 2002).

1990s: Save the Old Atlanta Prison Farm and @SouthRiverGA formed to advocate for environmental clean-up and green space at this site.

In 2002, Mayor @ATLShirley Franklin created a Parks and Green Space Task Force that included community leaders. They advised that this land be prioritized as green space.

In 2017, under Mayor @KasimReed, the Atlanta City Design – our City's strategic plan for growth and development created with input from residents – called for this land to be part of a 1,200+ acre South River Forest Park.

In 2021, the @AtlantaRegional Commission began working with area advocates and stakeholders on a community-led plan for the South River Forest's future. This plan has since been published:
atlantaregional.org/community-deve…

None of these instances of public engagement in the 1990s, 2002, 2017, nor 2021 included a police training facility.

But a police training facility was still being planned, just not publicly.

A City report in 2008 on infrastructure identified this land as an option for a needed “consolidated public safety training facility." This was an internal document that did not include any community participation.

In 2017, the @atlpolicefdn – a corporate-led, multi-million dollar nonprofit – published their own plan that envisioned the old prison farm as a solution to address “the poor conditions of existing facilities.”

Here's who they are:
atlantapolicefoundation.org/about-the-atla…

What we know for sure is that for years, the Foundation worked in private with the @Atlanta_Police Department on plans for new training facilities at the old prison farm site. Here is a link to their "Vision Safe Atlanta Plan" from 2017: atlantapolicefoundation.org/wp-content/upl…

In January 2021, Mayor @KeishaBottoms created an advisory council to make recommendations on a new public safety training center. The council included representatives from the @atlpolicefdn, the @ATLFireRescue Foundation, and the @CityofAtlanta.

The advisory council was supposed to include community members; it did not.

Their recommendations mirrored the Foundation’s vision. The report is here and who was on the council is attached: saportakinsta.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/upl…

On April 1, 2021, Mayor Bottoms publicly announced a plan – through an Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) story – to lease the old prison farm property to the @atlpolicefdn for a new training center.

ajc.com/news/atlanta-n…

The very same day, the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) – a coalition of corporate leaders that advise the Mayor – voiced their support for the Mayor's plan.

The training facility was announced as a $90M project. $30M will come from taxpayers; it is still unclear where public dollars will come from.

The chairman of ACP, Alex Taylor, is leading private fundraising on the rest. Taylor is the CEO of @CoxEnterprises, which owns the @ajc

In June 2021, legislation was introduced in City Council to authorize a 50-year lease with the Police Foundation.

In August, after being held in committee for weeks, the City Council delayed a final vote to September to allow for more community outreach and engagement.

Many council members, including Andre Dickens, felt this had not been done appropriately from the beginning (as interviewed by @AtlCivicCircle:
atlantaciviccircle.org/2021/09/20/and…)

In September, the @atlcouncil received 17 hours of public comment, mainly in opposition.
ajc.com/news/atlanta-n…

They voted 10-4 to approve the lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation. Here's how they voted:

Prior to adoption, the legislation was amended to reduce the size of the land lease from 381 to 85 acres, require the replacement of hardwood trees, and
create a Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

Link to the final version of the legislation: atlantacityga.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detai…

The lease agreement is between the City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Foundation. City Council authorized the Mayor to sign the lease on behalf of the City.

Here is a copy of the lease we got through an open records request from the City: bit.ly/apflease

The approved legislation *DOES NOT* not take away the City Council’s power to adopt new legislation that could amend or terminate the lease.

While the City Charter gives the Mayor power to veto legislation, Council can override a veto with 10 votes.

The City may terminate the lease at any time, with or without cause, with at least 180 days’ written notice. The Atlanta Police Foundation may terminate the lease if it determines it is unlikely to get all necessary approvals and funding commitments in a timely fashion.

The lease – which we retrieved only after making open records requests — is still missing information, including key dates and exhibits.

The proposed training facility includes educational classrooms, a shooting range, an emergency vehicle driving course, and a “mock village” — with a fake convenience store, a fake nightclub, fake houses, fake apartments, and a fake park.

atlantapolicefoundation.org/programs/publi…

Social justice, environmental, and Indigenous organizers (who call this plan "Cop City") warn that this facility will lead to increased police brutality and surveillance, as well as increase the potential for flooding and erosion in the area.

atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/th…

These issues have historically had a disproportionate impact on Black communities in Atlanta, especially in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the site.

Activism about this specific land is not new, but it has escalated.

In addition to the collectives that long advocated for green space, current protests and solidarity efforts to prevent a new training facility are led by local groups such as @CommunityMvt Builders, @defendATLforest, and the @ATLSolFund.

atlanta.capitalbnews.org/black-atlanta-…

On January 18, 2023, activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Esteban Paez Terán was shot at least 13 times and killed while law enforcement conducted a “clearing operation.” A Georgia State Patrol officer was injured. The situation gained national concern.

theguardian.com/us-news/2023/f…

Terán’s family has questioned the State’s narrative of what happened, so they are conducting their own investigation and continue to demand bodycam footage.

npr.org/2023/03/11/116…

Demonstrations and protests have increased since. Dozens of protestors have been arrested and charged with criminal trespass and “domestic terrorism" by the State of Georgia.

apnews.com/article/atlant…

Hundreds of activists, faith leaders, Indigenous leaders, students, medical professionals, academics, and others have called on the City to terminate the lease.

Here is a sample open letter from Spelman faculty: docs.google.com/document/u/2/d…

Members of the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the City Council-created Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee have resigned.

saportareport.com/training-cente…

Mayor Andre Dickens recently announced yet another task force focused on green space, sustainability, the training curriculum, and memorializing the site’s history.

Press release here: atlantaga.gov/Home/Component…

Atlanta Police Foundation CEO, Dave Wilkinson, said they are moving “full speed ahead.”

Your voice still matters, whether you firmly support or oppose this plan. Residents can – and should – still share their comments and/or concerns about our City’s plans to use this property.

Here is the contact information for @atlcouncil representatives.

Our small yet mighty team team spent weeks going through (and sometimes filing requests for) public records to make sure we could make this information clear and accurate. Let us know if we missed anything.

Thank you to the real MVPs, the journalists who have been tirelessly covering this issue for months: @atlanta_press, George Chidi (@neonflag), @ThatSeanKeenan, @JohnRuchAtlanta, @mthigs, @CapitalB_ATL, @AtlCivicCircle, @canopyatl, and so many others. 💜