A plan to build a new training center for police and firefighters in Atlanta has put city officials on a collision course with activists opposed to its construction.
The project is set to cost around $90 million, and taxpayers are
“We do not believe that corporations should be in the business of policing, yet they are massively funding local police departments,” Collins said, adding that the donations ultimately allow the companies to “get their priorities for public safety over and above individuals in the community.”“It's completely circumventing the democratic process,” Collins said, wary that Atlanta’s proposed training facility could become a blueprint for other cities.
Opponents of the new police center also say they’re concerned about how the construction could affect the local environment. For years, some community activiststhe former prison farmland into a recreational park. And they argue that keeping the park’s greenery will help combat climate change, as trees absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, while making the area less susceptible to flooding.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat, has said the activists looking to stop the project oppose “the very things that they asked for — more police training.”
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