Atlanta Public Records Case Could Shed Light On Police Foundations

A case stemming from the controversial Atlanta “Cop City” project is being watched because it has the potential to cast a spotlight on the activities of police foundations nationwide. The case raises the issue of state open records laws, and whether they apply to police foundations. The private foundations exist in every major city, with more than 250 nationwide. The foundations have been used to pay for surveillance technologies in cities like Baltimore and Los Angeles without the contracts being subject to public scrutiny. An Atlanta judge is considering 12 hours of testimony, case law and evidence in a lawsuit that concerns whether records such as board meeting minutes from the Atlanta Police Foundation are subject to the state’s open records law. If they are, they must be released to plaintiffs – a local digital non-profit news outlet and a Chicago-based research organization, The Guardian reports.

Although it is a private entity, the police foundation is the driving force behind the police training center colloquially known as “Cop City,” which has attracted global headlines after police shot dead Manuel Paez Teran, or “Tortuguita”, an environmental activist protesting the project. At the same time, the prosecution of anti-“Cop City” activists – using RICO laws usually reserved for organized crime has prompted accusations that the state is using police and the courts to crush dissent and free speech. The open records complaint filed on behalf of non-profit news outlet Atlanta Community Press Collective and digital transparency research organization Lucy Parsons Labs details how numerous records queries to the foundation under Georgia’s Open Records Act were ignored. It probably is the first such lawsuit nationwide, says University of Chicago sociology Prof. Robert Vargas. The $109 million training center, built on a 171-acre footprint in a forest south-east of Atlanta, has drawn opposition from a wide range of local and national organizations and protesters centered on concerns such as police militarization and clearing forests in an era of climate crisis. Atlanta police and the foundation say the center is needed for “world-class” training and to attract new officers.