ATLANTA — After years of legal battles, the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its 85-acre, $115 million facility in DeKalb County, FOX 5 reported.
The site will now serve as a centralized hub for training Atlanta’s police and fire personnel.
City officials say the center will replace outdated facilities spread across the metro area, providing a modern space for coordinated emergency response training. The sprawling complex includes horse stables, a K-9 unit center, a driving course, a six-story rescue tower and a mock city designed to simulate real-world crisis scenarios.
Police Chief Darin Schierbaum described how officers can train for situations such as domestic violence calls, barricaded suspects and drug-related incidents within the life-like environments.
In addition to law enforcement and firefighter training infrastructure, the facility includes a community walking trail around a pond — a feature city officials say was developed in collaboration with local residents.
“This spot is designated for the public. People can come and eat lunch or walk the trails,” said APD Chief Administration Officer Marshal Freeman.
The center, first approved by the Atlanta City Council in September 2021, has faced sustained opposition since its inception, according to the report. Environmental advocates have criticized the development’s location in a forested area of southeast
Atlanta, warning of potential ecological damage and negative impacts on nearby communities.
The announcement and building of the center has been met with protests and even with violence and arson. Protesters cited negative environmental impacts and “police militarization” as reasons for the pushback.
The project has also been marred by intense protest activity, which city officials say added roughly $20 million to the overall cost. In August 2023, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr indicted 61 people under the state’s anti-racketeering statute, describing them as “militant anarchists” seeking to stop the facility’s construction. Several were previously arrested on domestic terrorism charges.
The Atlanta City Council approved an additional $31 million in funding for the project in June 2023.
By December 2024, the city was offering media tours of the nearly completed site, emphasizing its state-of-the-art resources and asserting its importance for both public safety and police-community relations.
Earlier in April, city officials raised an American flag during a ceremony at the site to mark the facility’s final phase before opening.
