The ground lease agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) to build a public safety training campus on City-owned property was passed by City Council. The APF intends to fund and build a state-of-the-art facility on 85 acres and preserve the remaining portion of the 265-acres property as greenspace, which is currently not accessible to the public. The exterior land will feature passive recreation areas with minimal environmental impact to the nearby forest area. The campus will provide training to members of Atlanta Police Department, Atlanta Fire Rescue, and E911 to ensure best practices in public safety and police instruction.

"The new Public Safety Training Facility is another step in our Administration's efforts to support our fire and police officers, while also focusing on sensible reform," said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. "This training facility will not only help boost morale, retention and recruitment of our public safety personnel, but will give us physical space to ensure that our officers and firefighters are receiving 21st century training, rooted in respect and regard for the communities they serve. We will continue to work with the impacted communities on how to best thoughtfully develop and preserve the surrounding property."

The training center will be built in phases, the first of which will be privately funded from the Atlanta Police Foundation through philanthropic and corporate donations. The full recommended scope of facilities is expected to cost $90 million. The City’s contribution will be through a 30-year $1 million per year lease starting in FY24 or a single contribution through a general obligation bond.

Facilities will also include the following:

• 30 acres for urban farming
• Auditorium for police/fire and public use
• Stables and 40 acres of pastureland for Mounted Patrol
• Modular classroom and administration building
• EVOC course for emergency vehicle driver training
• Mock City for burn building training and urban police training
• K-9 unit kennel and Training
• Emergency Operations Center for collaborative law enforcement training
• Atlanta Police Leadership Institute
• Atlanta Fire/Rescue Academy
• Atlanta Police Academy

Atlanta Police Department will hold a press briefing at the Public Safety Headquarters on Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the Public Safety Training Center. Speakers include Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Police Chief Rodney Bryant, Deputy Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Fire Chief Roderick Smith and Atlanta Police Foundation President/CEO Dave Wilkinson.

For more information about the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, visit https://atlantapolicefoundation.org/pstc/.