Drawing from public health literature and the movement in Atlanta, we authored a research report on the health harms posed by the growing number of police training facilities, commonly referred to as “Cop Cities.”
The construction of police training facilities, or “Cop Cities,” is on the rise in the US, with 69 projects currently planned across 47 states. This report examines the public health impacts of these facilities, and reveals the broader and intersecting harms that militarization and policing pose to the health of all people and our planet. We highlight the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a controversial 85-acre, $109.65 million police training construction project in Atlanta, Georgia, known to community organizers as “Cop City,” to illustrate four key pathways by which the construction of police training facilities harms health:
- The expansion of policing
- The destruction of the climate
- Undermining Indigenous sovereignty
- State repression of resistance
Each section describes the associated public health harms, followed by evidence-based public health solutions to promote health:
- Invest in health instead of punishment
- Advocate for green spaces and climate justice
- Land back for Indigenous reparations
- Protect community power and civil rights
We also recommend critical actions for each pathway that federal, state, Tribal, and local governments can take to prevent ongoing and future harms to public health, improve accountability, and support community safety for all.
While this brief focuses on Atlanta’s Cop City and the current social justice movement there, we hope this research will support continued resistance to the construction of police training facilities across the US.
To learn more, contact Renae A. Badruzzaman, Health Instead of Punishment Project Director, at renae@humanimpact.org
