In Atlanta, Georgia, community activists remain locked in a nearly 2-year struggle against the development of a massive police training center in a forest just outside the city, dubbed "cop city." 

Only weeks after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the 2020 police killing of Rayshard Brooks, calls to "demilitarize" and "defund the police" amassed all over the country. It was difficult for Atlanta, as it was for many cities across the country. The city’s 14 percent increase  in homicides was accompanied by several, tragic, high-profile murders just as the voters were facing a choice of who would serve as the next mayor. The race and runoff were dominated by these public perceptions of crime and questions about how candidates would respond became central. 

In September 2021, the Atlanta City Council approved plans to grant a ground lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation for a $90 million dollar police training facility to be built on 85 acres of land near Southeast Atlanta, located in a lower-income, predominantly Black area not represented on Atlanta's City Council. A local firm conducted a survey of residents near the proposed site and found 98% of respondents opposed the project. The approval was also granted despite strong opposition from community groups who oppose this substantial allocation of public resources to Atlanta police. 

Additionally, the land slated for development has a fraught history, having formerly served as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm where inmates were subjected to abusive, "slave-like" conditions. Digital producer Zachary Bynum reports from Atlanta, talking with activists, organizers, and elected officials from the city to determine what this all means about race, land stewardship, and power in the struggle for the future of Atlanta's South River Forest.

Editor's note: We reached out to the Atlanta Police Foundation for comment and we have not yet received a response. If we do, we will post it on thetakeaway.org.