ATLANTA — The leader of the Atlanta Police Foundation says the newly opened Atlanta Public Safety Training Center will be good for the community, so he’s surprised at the pushback it received.
Of the $118 million price tag on the training center, $31 million came from the city. The rest came from Atlanta Police Foundation donors.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne sat down with President and CEO of the Atlanta Police Foundation Dave Wilkinson.
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“The mission of the police foundation is to build a safer city to work closely with the citizens, the neighborhoods, the mayor, the city of Atlanta Police Department, all to create a safe city,” Wilkinson said.
He says Atlanta has always prioritized making sure officers perform well and are trained well.
“If you combine better talent with better training, you get better outcomes on the streets of Atlanta,” he said. “In most incidents of police brutality that you’ve seen around this country, it always comes down to, typically, a lack of talent or a lack of training by the police officers.”
Keyana Jones-Moore says she was active in the movement protesting the construction of the training center.
“The police foundation was essentially pushing for something that the public did not want,” Jones-Moore said. “I’m absolutely still opposed to Cop City.”
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Wilkinson says the donation-funded, non-profit foundation often prefers a low profile, but became a target as the opposition ramped up.
Jones-Moore says she didn’t commit any acts of destruction, but hesitates to condemn those who did.
“There’s no such thing as peaceful protest because protest in and of itself disturbs the peace of the status quo,” she said.
Wilkinson says the community did want the center, which is proven by the more than $10 million spent meeting specific requests suggested by neighborhood leaders.
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