Promoting the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center as a way of militarizing the police is a “false narrative,” Gabriel Nadales, national director of Our America, told The Georgia Star News on Tuesday.
The “safety center is about improving all first respondents. This means having better trained firefighters, EMTs, and yes that includes police officers,” Nadales said.
He added, “But the great thing about this center is that it also includes de-escalation training which is important for officers whenever they are dealing with the community they serve.”
With “Stop Cop City” demonstrators opposing the Public Safety Training Center outside an Atlanta City Council meeting on Monday, Nadales voiced his support of the facility.
In an Our America Facebook page video, Nadales thanked the city council for taking the “brave stand” of funding the training center and called the move “a vital step in the right direction.”
Beyond political parties, Nadales (pictured above) said the challenges Atlantans face are “American issues.”
He spoke about the underfunding of police and how citizens in Atlanta deserve “safer streets and brighter futures” rather than living in fear of “driving to work or getting carjacked at a bus stop.”
“Atlantans need more police officers, but more importantly, they need well-trained police officers who are integral to the community,” he stated.
An Instagram post by South River Forest Coalition, a Stop Cop City activist group, referred to Our America as “Out-of-state organizers” and called for a demonstration.
“‘OUR AMERICA’ is coming to OUR City Council meeting Monday, May 20th to lobby for Cop City. Organizers from Texas, California and elsewhere give new meaning to #AndreDickens and #BrianKemp’s favorite regressive term ‘outside agitators.'”
However, Nadales pointed out during the meeting that the role of the public training center is not only to learn about “policing tactics like high-speed chases but also civil rights training.”
He explained that the training center was not just for police but also for first responders, firefighters, and EMTs. Pointing to the Stop Cop City protesters heckling him inside the meeting, he told city council members, “They are neglecting them. This [facility] is for the public safety of all Atlantans.”
According to Our America, a higher law enforcement presence in the community reduces crime, and “placing officers at crime ‘hot spots’ reduces serious crime in those areas.”
The organization also states that “adding 10-17 police officers to a department is enough to prevent one murder while reducing violent crimes.”
As previously reported in The Star News, Stop Cop City recently joined protestors at Emory University in building anti-Israel encampments on the campus.
In March, two protestors chained themselves to a crane in opposition to the construction of the training center.
In addition to protests, the Atlanta Police Department (APD) cites ongoing reports of arson, vandalism, and targeted attacks made against the facility.
The Atlanta Public Training Center will include classrooms, lecture halls, fire training facilities, mock buildings for practicing scenarios, horse stables, and dog kennels.
Activities at the training center will tentatively begin at the end of 2024.
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter.
