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Wqt ^tlantaJournal-Constitution
COMMUNITY
Police announce campaign to
find training center ‘anarchists’
By Dyana Bagby
Hundreds of billboards and digital
marketing campaigns are now part of a
national effort to arrest and convict violent
“anarchists” suspected of attacks against
the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center,
according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin
Schierbaum.
Schierbaum said at a Jan. 17 press
conference that more than 450 billboards
were put up in Atlanta and other major
cities including Miami, Nashville, and
New York. The billboards will advertise
rewards of up to $200,000 for information
in finding arson suspects protesting the
training center, also known as “Cop City.”
The announcement came a day
after activists set fire to construction
equipment near the training center site
and took credit for the action on a website,
Schierbaum said.
“There is an effort underway by a very
small group of individuals, anarchists,
that want to impact the safety of Atlanta,
Georgia,” Schierbaum said.
Attending the press conference with
Schierbaum were Atlanta Deputy Fire
Chief James McLemore, Georgia Insurance
Commissioner John King and members of
the FBI, ATF and the GBI.
The chief’s press conference was
held before officials told members of the
Atlanta City Council Finance Committee
that the training center was more than
75% complete despite acts of vandalism,
including arson. City officials said the
vandalism has increased the estimated $90
million cost to build the complex by nearly
$20 million.
In addition to billboards and digital
marketing, geo-fencing campaigns will also
be utilized in nine cities to advertise the
cash reward for information leading to the
arrest and convictions of those attacking
the training center, according to a news
release.
Geo-fencing was not discussed during
the police chief’s press conference. Atlanta
Police did not respond to a request for
comment about what specifically would be
involved in the geo-fencing campaigns.
Geo-fencing is used to create a virtual
geographic boundary around an area using
GPS, Wi-Fi or cellular data technology.
Businesses use geo-fencing to target
specific advertisements to someone’s cell
phone, for example, when they walk into
the virtual boundary.
Crime Stoppers in other states have
used geo-fencing to get tips to solve
crimes. However, some critics worry
data compiled by police could be used to
target innocent people. Some legal experts
also say geo-fencing could be harmful to
protesters and social activists.
The billboards and cash reward are
being funded by Crime Stoppers of
Greater Atlanta and private donations,
Schierbaum said. Crime Stoppers Greater
Atlanta is managed by the Atlanta Police
Foundation.
The Atlanta Police Foundation is in
charge of building and managing the
85-acre public safety training center being
built on city-owned property in the South
River Forest in unincorporated DeKalb
County.
Schierbaum also said Seth Brock
Spigner was arrested in South Carolina
and charged with arson for setting fire to
construction equipment in a case related to
Atlanta’s public safety training center.
Members of the city council’s
finance committee were updated on the
construction of the training center at their
Jan. 17 meeting.
City officials said the training center
is more than 75% complete “despite
multiple acts of violence” over the past two
years and is expected to be completed in
December.
Deputy Chief Operating Officer
LaChandra Burks told the finance
committee that the frequency and intensity
of the attacks in opposition to the training
center have contributed to an increase in
the estimated cost for the training center
from $90 million to $109.6 million,
according to a news release.
The increase includes $6 million for
additional security and $400,000 for
insurance increases. Atlanta taxpayers will
not bear the burden of the $19.6 million
in incremental costs, Burks said.
“We are moving forward as planned
and not allowing distractions to deter us
from improving the safety of Atlantans
by completing the public safety training
center,” Mayor Andre Dickens said in a
news release.
In the news release, Dickens and city
administrators also pushed back against
the $67 million cost to taxpayers to build
the training center.
“The City’s share of the training center
construction cost, approved by the Atlanta
City Council in June 2023, remains an
allocation of $31 million,” according to
the news release.
“The other Council-approved training
center cost, which is a budget-neutral
annual lease-back payment to the Atlanta
Police Foundation (APF) of $1.2 million,
is not an incremental, additional, or new
expense for the city’s taxpayers.
“As outlined previously, the city
currently pays $1.4 million annually for
various leases for suboptimal training
facilities around the city and metro area.
Once the new training center is built, the
City will cancel those various leases and
start making the $1.2 million leaseback
payments to APF. The leaseback payments
are a $200,000 annual savings or a $6
million savings over 30 years,” the news
release said.
Opponents of the training center say
building the complex would only lead to
more police militarization and violence
against Black and brown people. They also
accuse the city of environmental racism for
building the training center in a majority
Black neighborhood.
6 | FEBRUARY 2024
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