Atlanta 'Cop City': Money approved for controversial training centre

The Atlanta City Council has approved funding for a controversial police training centre that has provoked nearly two years of protests.

Members voted early on Tuesday morning to spend $31m (£25m) on construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed "Cop City" by critics.

The centre was approved in September 2021 but required an additional vote for more funding.

Opponents say it will fuel police brutality and destroy a vital forest.

Officials say the new 85-acre campus would provide much-needed training facilities and prepare police officers for demands of the job.

Hundreds spoke out against the centre at a public meeting that started Monday and stretched for around 14 hours until early Tuesday, before council members approved the project by an 11-4 vote.

Most of the speakers at the meeting opposed the development.

"We're here to stop environmental racism and the militarisation of the police," said Matthew Johnson, executive director of Beloved Community Ministries, a non-profit organisation. "We need to go back to meeting the basic needs rather than using police as the sole solution to all of our social problems."

A few attendees argued in favour of the plan, including a police recruit who said he was underwhelmed by the city's existing training facilities.

The Council agreed to approve $31m in public funds for the site's construction as well as a provision that requires the city to pay $36m - $1.2m a year over 30 years - for using the facility. The rest of the $90m project is to be funded by private donations to the Atlanta Police Foundation, the non-profit responsible for planning and building the centre.

The Police Foundation says a new centre is essential because current training facilities "fail to meet the training needs required of a major urban law enforcement agency". The group says it would help address issues of morale, recruitment and retention in the police force.

Opponents argue that its facilities amount to a "war base where police will learn military-like manoeuvers" to target minority communities. They point to explosives testing areas, shooting ranges and a helicopter pad designed for military aircraft.

The project has been delayed by public opposition and intense protests that have on occasion spilled over into violence.

In January, a 26-year-old environmental activist Manuel Paez Teran was shot dead by police. Authorities said he fired a gun and injured a state trooper. An official autopsy later revealed that Teran had been shot 57 times.

In March, during a separate protest over the site, Atlanta police arrested and charged 23 people with domestic terrorism offences.