The City of Atlanta’s planned police training center has been the site of violent protests, and now some residents want voters to decide if Atlanta should still build the so-called “Cop City.”
As The Dallas Express previously reported, dozens have been arrested for throwing rocks, launching fireworks, and shooting off Molotov cocktails near the proposed public safety training location.
The city says the new center will improve policing. Critics claim it is an effort to militarize the police and will make some communities unsafe.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency earlier this year in response to the chaos, citing outside agitators, including Antifa.
Residents in DeKalb County have started a petition drive to put the question on the ballot. If the drive is successful, voters would decide whether to vacate the 2021 ordinance that authorized 381 acres of forested land to the Atlanta Police Foundation to build the training facility.
The city went to court on Monday to keep the proposed training center off the ballot as it already has an agreement in place for the site. In a new federal court filing, the city says the referendum effort is “futile” because it seeks to revoke the city’s authorization to enter into a lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation.
That agreement has been signed, and the city argues that revoking the authorizing ordinance does not undo the lease agreement itself, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“The Georgia Supreme Court has held that (state law) does not authorize referendums to repeal city ordinances,” the filing states, according to AJC. “Repeal of a years’ old ordinance cannot retroactively revoke authorization to do something that has already been done. But even if the referendum could claim to result in a revocation or cancellation of the lease, it would still be invalid because it would amount to an impermissible impairment of that contract.”
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms signed off on the lease, and the foundation started construction shortly after her decision, AJC reported.
Supporters of a referendum would have to compile 70,000 signatures in 60 days to have a chance of putting it on the ballot.
“We have never been able to say that we don’t want a firing range near our children’s school,” one Atlanta resident, Keyanna Jones, told Georgia Public Broadcasting. “We’ve never been able to say that we don’t want more lead from gunshots, from the bullet casings polluting our water.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens predicted the referendum would be “unsuccessful, if it’s done honestly.”
“We are making sure we continue monitoring the process but there is no one in law enforcement or my administration that would ever get in the way of them doing their constitutional right to have a petition,” Dickens said, according to AJC.
Proponents of the new facility claim that the center would be a morale booster for local police and help with stepping up recruitment, NBC News reported.
For its part, Dallas has been suffering from a significant police staffing shortage. A City analysis advised that the city needs roughly 4,000 officers — approximately three for every 1,000 residents. Dallas Police Department is currently short about 900 officers from this target.
The shortage has been especially felt in Downtown Dallas, which regularly logs significantly more crime than Fort Worth’s downtown area, where a special police unit collaborates with private security guards to keep crime under control.
