Why Environmentalists Should Oppose ‘Police City’ and Defend Atlanta Forests

Opinion: Why environmentalists should oppose ‘cop cities’ and defend Atlanta forests

urban canopy almost covered 48% The city of Atlanta, Georgia is often referred to as “the city in the forest.” In 2020, a Report The Atlanta Department of City Planning emphasizes the need for ecological conservation of Atlanta’s forests to avoid loss of critical habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. It announced that Atlanta will “boldly preserve and invest in two new major regional parks: Chattahoochee River Park and South River Park.”

So, why is South River Forest – a so-called “Lungs of Atlanta” Designed by the same city planning department—scheduled to be an 85-acre, $90 million project Public Safety Training Campus Atlanta Police Department?

A view from DeKalb County, Georgia. photo: Seko Naotomo via Creative Commons

In April 2021, then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council proposed building a police training center in DeKalb County, where South River Forest is located—dubbed “Police City” by opponents.The Atlanta City Council solicited public feedback in September 2021 and reviewed 17 hours of reviews From more than 1,100 Atlanta residents; 70 percent expressed opposition to the project. Concerns about protecting forests have been widely expressed by environmentalists and community groups.

Despite overwhelming dissent, Atlanta City Council voted 10-4 to lease South River Forest to Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), a private nonprofit organization that partners with the city government and the Atlanta Police Department on public safety initiatives. The APF will provide $60 million in funding for “Police City” — with the remaining $30 million being covered by taxpayers, many of whom oppose the project.

The police training facility will be the largest in the United States. It will allegedly include a mock city to simulate real-world training, explosives proving grounds and shooting ranges. Official renderings. Its proposed site in South River Forest has a chilling history of racist displacement and slavery.this land is at first It was inhabited by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation prior to their forced displacement in the early 1800’s. It also operates as a plantation and, more recently, a “prison farm” using prison labor. The legacy of these systems continues today.exist DeKalb Countyincluding the communities surrounding South River Forest, with a predominantly black population; most residents Live at or below the poverty line and have the highest rates of poverty, asthma, and diabetes in the nation.

Communities are systematically disenfranchised, creating an environmental justice crisis. In 2021, Nanjiang was rated as America’s most endangered river” Due to persistent sewage pollution over the past decade. In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Georgia Division of Environmental Conservation, and DeKalb County agree Repair sewage leaks in the County’s “key areas” by 2020.US EPA Sewage cleanup in “non-priority areas” was not initially mandated, Much of it has the highest concentration of black residents in Georgia and accounts for two-thirds of the sewer system. DeKalb County missed the June 2020 deadline. In response, the EPA negotiated an extension to 2025. Regardless, the county is unlikely to meet the new deadline to focus on all 103 project sites, allowing communities to continue to grapple with the effects of environmental racism.

Although “Police City” is located in DeKalb County, its effects will be felt throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area.Forests in Atlanta removed about 19 million pounds of air pollutants per year South River Forest is considered One of the Largest Unspoilt Areas in Metro Atlantaaccording to Deron Davis, former executive director of The Nature Conservancy of Georgia.

This canopy is critical to reducing the urban heat island effect that has warmed Atlanta by up to 10 degrees. in the first half of 2022 The hottest year begins Atlanta as seen since 1930.Additionally, with 75% increase in heavy rain In Atlanta, green spaces are needed to reduce stormwater runoff. These benefits will disappear with the forest.

Despite forests’ key role, EIA for ‘police city’ criticized for arbitrariness, to misleador in some cases absent.

Environmental justice scholars have long pointed out The role of police violence in normalization environmental racismwhich Disproportionately impacts black and brown communities. Blacks are three times more likely to killed by police and died of asthma Reportedly, more than whites. When Eric Garner was suffocated and killed by New York City police in 2014, he was suffering from asthma.as explain UC Davis professor Julie Sze Garner’s last words — “I can’t breathe” — shed light on the violence and death that air pollution and police brutality bring to black communities. Sze thinks the application environmental justice The footage shows that these causes of premature death for black people are not isolated but inextricably linked.

“Police cities” will exacerbate environmental racism and militarized police violence. January 18, 2023 An unidentified police officer was shot and killed Environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita—Spanish for “little turtle.” Environmental protests have long been met with corporate and state-sanctioned violence, but experts say this is the first incident of an environmental activist being killed by police in the United States. And, when one considers the excessive and often unlawful use of force by the police in social justice movements, it’s hard to believe this will be the last.

Activists have seized a tree in South River Forest to protest a proposed police training facility that would destroy the forest. photo: Crovina via Wikimedia Commons

early february, Six climate activists arrested in Boston Protest against building substations bypassing all environmental permits. in January. Greta Thunberg detained by German police During a protest against the expansion of the coal mine. April 2022, Seven climate scientists arrested This follows protests against stronger climate action following the last UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. After the death of Tortuguita, Six environmental activists arrested on domestic terrorism charges. In all of these cases, I believe the police are a means of suppressing civil disobedience.

The weaponization of police forces against climate activists and marginalized communities victimized by environmental racism cannot be ignored. Our struggles are interconnected.

This is why I stand with the Atlanta Forest Defenders, and why I implore all environmentalists to get involved, stop “Police City” and defend South River Forest and its surrounding communities.

Aditi Desai is a graduate student at Columbia University MSc in Sustainability Management program.