Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing

Meet Some of the Black Voices on Dickens’ ‘Cop City’ Community Task Force

English Park resident Donna Stephens is one of 40 people who accepted Mayor Andre Dickens’ invitation to sit on the South River Forest and Public Safety Training Facility task force. Stephens accepted the invitation in large part because she is concerned about the environmental implications tied to the training center known as “Cop City.” Stephens […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing

Yes, Black People Are Protesting ‘Cop City,’ Too

For months, politicians including Mayor Andre Dickens and Gov. Brian Kemp have characterized the Stop Cop City movement as being composed of outside “agitators” coming to cause trouble in Atlanta. The 85-acre public safety training facility is set to be built in the South River Forest in south DeKalb County. Surrounded by majority Black neighborhoods, […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing

Tale of the Tape: An Expert Weighs In on the ‘Cop City’ Bodycam Footage

Newly released body camera footage from a deadly encounter at “Cop City” has left locals with more questions than answers. Last week, speculation around the events that led to the Jan. 18 shooting in South River Forest has grown since the Atlanta Police Department released videos from officers in the vicinity of where environmental activist […]

Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing

Kemp Declares State of Emergency Over Stop ‘Cop City’ Movement

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Thursday as tension between police and ‘Cop City’ protesters has brought international attention to Atlanta. Kemp has ordered 1,000 Georgia National Guard troops to be ready to intervene after Saturday’s vigil turned into a protest where some activists “threw rocks, launched fireworks, and burned a police vehicle […]

Posted inCity Politics, Criminal Justice, Policing

Deadly ‘Cop City’ Shooting Divides Residents, Activists, and Law Enforcement

Marcus Hunter bought a home near South River Forest in 2013. The IT consultant said he and many of his neighbors have become numb to hearing about the conflicts between protesters and law enforcement officers at the future site of a massive public safety training facility, dubbed “Cop City” by activists.  “Everybody kinda saw it […]

Posted inClimate, Environmental Justice

To Residents, Razing Atlanta Forest for ‘Cop City’ project is ‘an Act of Disinvestment’

In a last-ditch effort to please police leaders who’ve decried a decline in morale amongst officers, Atlanta officials may have approved a plan with a hurricane-sized hole.  Atlanta, known as “the city in a forest,” is set to lose more than 100 acres of its South River Forest, the region’s most important landscape in protecting […]