Atlanta’s new public safety training center, dubbed “Cop City” by its opponents, is nearly complete and expected to open in the first few months of 2025.
The Atlanta Police Department and Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, along with city and state officials held a tour of the facility for a small number of media outlets. Rough Draft did not receive an invitation for the tour.
According to WABE, the 85-acre, $115 million complex in the South River Forest in unincorporated DeKalb County features a six-story burn building, dog kennels, classroom building, stables for the APD’s mounted patrol, firing range, and a new driving course.
A mock city – complete with a convenience store, two-story house, apartment and commercial-style buildings — will be used to train police on dealing with barricaded gunmen, hostages, and drug dealing operations.
“This is where we take our newest officers or our 20-year veterans and keep them up on the skills they need to act on your behalf while there’s fear, while there’s adrenaline pumping,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told WABE.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr were also on hand for the tour.
“We are enhancing and improving public safety in the city of Atlanta as a model to help keep people safe,” Dickens told WABE. “This is a project that we are delivering this year, as we stated. We are moving in as we speak.”
On the same day of the media tour, the parents of Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, who was killed while protesting the training center nearly two years ago, announced they were suing three officers they believe conducted the raid that caused the activist’s death.
The training center has drawn fierce opposition from around the world and led to dozens of arrests of protesters.
The “Stop Cop City” campaign submitted more than 100,000 signed petitions to the City of Atlanta in 2023 to get a referendum on the ballot. The signatures remain uncounted and unverified by the city while the referendum remains in legal limbo.
Money laundering charges against three activists involved in providing legal support and bail money for arrested protesters were dropped by the state in September. The state continues to pursue racketeering, domestic terrorism, and arson charges against the 61 indicted activists.
Atlanta Police and the GBI have tied Cop City activists to an ongoing series of arsons where construction equipment belonging to companies involved in the construction of the training center has been damaged or destroyed.
The Atlanta City Council voted in November to approve spending $1.7 million for more security at the training center site.
Dyana Bagby contributed to this report.