Plus, some reading material to get you smarter on the subject
Estimated reading time: 3m 41s
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Hello readers! Welcome back to another edition of the Reckon Report. In case you missed the memo last week, we're trying out a new format for this newsletter: a quick dive on one subject (a snorkel, perhaps?) with the high points of what you need to know and how to get involved. This week we’re talking about Cop City, the controversial proposed police training center in Atlanta. The project had been stalled due to protests and most recently a stop work order pending a county zoning hearing, but seems poised to start again.
And now, on to the main event. |
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In DeKalb County, GA, there's a large old-growth forest, the last such forest inside the boundaries of I-285. That land has been the site of many things over the course of the history of Atlanta: initially Muscogee Creek land prior to the forced removal and the Trail of Tears, later a POW camp during World War I and most recently, the Old Atlanta Prison Farm. In the late-2010s, there was some discussion of turning the area into public green space for the surrounding communities, but those plans floundered in a tangle of city and county red tape.
In 2021, then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that the site had been selected to build a police training facility, nicknamed "Cop City" because of plans to build a model village where law enforcement can simulate urban assaults. Protests against the development of the land were swift and are still ongoing. Now, after the shooting of a protester earlier this year and the ongoing detention of dozens of others on domestic terrorism charges and a temporary stop work order that has since been lifted, construction of the training facility appears to be back on track. |
In 2020, after a summer of civil unrest around the country, former Mayor of Atlanta Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the forest as the selected site of the training facility, advertising it as part of police reforms citizens had been protesting for. Construction on the site was greenlit in 2021 and has faced ongoing community resistance ever since, including grassroots protesters camping out in the trees, concerts and pickets around the city.
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Atlanta is nicknamed "the City in a Forest" because of its signature tree canopy. The tree canopy acts as the lungs of the region and also protects against flooding by holding soil in place. With the rapid pace of residential and commercial development in the last few decades, Atlanta's tree canopy is diminishing, and any destruction of green space comes at a high cost to the environment and residents of the city. Additionally, most residents of the area don't want the training facility built on that site. In 17 hours of public comment before Atlanta City Council in September 2021, a whopping 70% of commenters were opposed to the development. Many cited worries about the proposed shooting range so close to a residential area, the loss of public lands and the secretive nature of how the deal was made between the City of Atlanta, DeKalb County (where the land is located) and the Atlanta Police Foundation. That the overwhelming opposition to this project didn't stop city council members from pushing it through should be of concern to everyone. |
| If you're a numbers person, this rundown from Facing South will help you quantify exactly what's going on with Cop City. A beautiful longread from Bitter Southerner about the coalitions of activists fighting to save the forest. Come for the prose, stay for the amazing photography. A follow-up story from the same writer at Bitter Southerner on the killing of Tortuguita, the activist who was killed by police in the forest earlier this year. A dispatch from The New Yorker about the forest defenders, environmentalism and local bureaucracy. |
| Stop Cop City Solidarity has a number of ways to get in touch with decision makers in this process, including contractors, the Atlanta Police Foundation, local government officials and consultants. The City of Atlanta's government directory lists many points of contact, including Mayor Andre Dickens' office. Organizers at Gen Z for Change have created automated forms allowing people to send mass emails to corporate sponsors, contractors and Atlanta City Council members. |
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You can still get a digest of all things Reckon in our recently launched Reckon Daily Report, which is headed up by my colleague April Siese. Got something you want me to dive into next week? Let me know at avelasquez@reckonmedia.com.
That's all I've got for this week!
Thanks for reckoning with me, Aria |
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