Picture of the graffiti on the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common before it was cleaned off on Sunday. (Courtesy photo)
Though it may be a thousand miles away, Cambridge community members are calling on the City Council to oppose supporting the construction of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center “or any similar facilities, in any way.”
A policy order in front of the City Council would put it on record in opposition to the Cambridge Police Department sending trainees to, or participating in any collaborations with, the facility being built to primarily serve Atlanta public safety personnel.
Several Cambridge community members, in emails to councilors and at a meeting last week, have voiced concerns over how the new facility, dubbed by critics as ‘Cop City,’ would lead to environmental harm and make officers trained there “more violent.”
The $90 million center, being constructed on 85 acres in Atlanta’s South River Forest, has drawn wide criticism from environmental, racial and safety justice advocates.
“Any officers sent to the proposed Cop City would be trained to be more violent, more militaristic, and more devastating to our community,” former Cambridge resident Emma Roth wrote in an email to the council. “They would be training within earshot of a high school, where students could hear shots fired, and this would only normalize the use of guns around our youth and all our neighbors.”
Cambridge councilors are slated to consider adopting its stance on Monday. The policy order highlights how the center would feature “shooting ranges, a helicopter pad, and a ‘tactical village’ meant to mimic an Atlanta neighborhood.”
“It would enhance the militarization of not just the Atlanta Police Department, but any municipal, state or federal agency invited to train there,” part of the policy order states. “The military-inspired style of training will assuredly make Black, disabled, poor, and other marginalized communities more vulnerable to the violence of over policing.”
But the official website for the project promotes how there will be no helipads nor helicopters at the site. There’ll be just one shooting range at the center, which is not meant for militarized police training, the project website states.
The Cambridge policy order also uses data from a survey conducted by lender Cadence Bank, the program manager for the Atlanta Police Foundation, showing that 43% of recruited trainees at the center would be from out-of-state.
But that stance is also considered a “myth,” according to officials overseeing the project.
“The primary purpose of the Training Center is to train Atlanta public safety personnel and to serve as a community resource. A limited number of other law enforcement agencies may be allowed to utilize a portion of the facility for training purposes, but the city has no current agreements to that effect.”
Before being sworn into the Cambridge Police Department, a recruit is required to complete a 20-week training through the Cambridge-Northeastern Police Academy, according to the department. Recruits engage in “scenario-based activities” and “community outreach” so they can learn that “policing is a ‘people business.’”
The police department did not immediately respond to a Herald inquiry on whether the department has sent trainees to Atlanta in any instance.
“Cop City” protesters gathered at Boston Common in January for ‘Solidarity with Atlanta Forest Defenders,’ shortly following Manuel Teran, nicknamed Tortuguita, being killed by law enforcement after he shot a Georgia State Trooper during a protest in Atlanta.
Riley Dowell, the 23-year-old daughter of U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, was arrested for spray painting the Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common with the messages ‘NO COP CITY’ and ‘ACAB,’ an acronym that stands for “all cops are bastards,” and allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Dowell is on a year of pretrial probation for the incident. She has been ordered to perform 30 hours of community service, to write an apology letter to the police officer, to go through therapy and to pay the city $1,000 restitution at $100 a month, due by the end of the probation period.
